129 people in Lower Silesia are over 100 years old. In Legnica, 14 people are already over 100, in Wałbrzych 47, and in Wrocław 68. The oldest resident of our region has just turned 111. Traditionally, women predominate among centenarians. This year, 107 female residents of Lower Silesia blew out more than 100 candles on their birthday cakes. Only 22 centenarian men live here.
Anyone celebrating their 100th birthday may be granted an honorary cash benefit of PLN 3,731.13.
“Once granted, centenarians receive the amount every month for the rest of their lives,” says Iwona Kowalska, regional press spokesperson for ZUS in Lower Silesia. “A senior does not have to submit any applications to ZUS; this is a special, so-called honorary benefit, which all pensioners and disability pension recipients receive automatically, ‘by virtue of office,’ upon turning 100,” she explains.
This benefit is also paid by ZUS to people who did not work a single day in their lives and therefore receive neither a pension nor a disability pension.
“This is particularly good news for women who sometimes spent their entire lives taking care of the home and children and therefore never worked, so they do not receive a pension,” adds Iwona Kowalska.
Such people are also entitled to the centenarian allowance, but in their case submitting an application is essential because they are not in the ZUS system. The application must include a document confirming the date of birth, such as a birth certificate. Currently, 1,953 people across Poland receive the honorary benefit from ZUS. Although since last year the number of centenarians receiving additional money from ZUS has fallen by 197, in 2013 alone ZUS allocated PLN 76.5 million for this purpose. In 2035, it will have to spend as much as PLN 626.5 million.
Centenarians in Legnica and Lower Silesia; data from June 2018.
| Lower Silesia | 129 | Women 107 |
Men 22 |
How old is the oldest centenarian? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wrocław | 68 | 59 | 9 | 111 |
| Wałbrzych | 47 | 39 | 8 | 105 |
| Legnica | 14 | 9 | 5 | 104 |
| LEGNICA | ||||
| Legnica Branch | 6 | |||
| Złotoryja | 4 | |||
| Lubin | 2 | |||
| Bolesławiec | 2 | |||
| TOTAL LEGNICA | 14 | 9 | 5 | A female resident of Lubin, Mrs Zofia, who is turning 104 |
How much does a centenarian receive?
Honorary benefits are granted in the amount of the currently applicable base amount used to calculate new benefits granted under the standard procedure. The base amount is 100% of the average monthly wage, reduced by the social-insurance contributions deducted from the insured person in the previous calendar year. It is determined annually and applies from March 1 of each calendar year until the end of February of the following year, and is announced in Monitor Polski by the President of the Central Statistical Office. It is worth noting that the honorary benefit for reaching 100 years of age is the same in KRUS and ZUS. The same amount is also used by the pension authorities of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of National Defence. Since March 2018, it has been PLN 3,731.13 gross; income tax is deducted from this amount, and it is not indexed, meaning that it is paid at the same amount for the rest of the recipient’s life.
The honorary benefit for centenarians has a long history. The first payments were made in the 1970s under a regulation of the Ministry of Labour. At that time, the additional money went to just 500 people. Since 2006, benefit payments have been regulated by statute, under which the payment of the pension supplement in Poland is handled by the Social Insurance Institution, the Agricultural Social Insurance Fund, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of National Defence.