The Latvian Senior Communities Association (LSKA) believes that reform of the early retirement pension system is necessary, but decisions to exclude professions from the list of eligible recipients must not be made in haste, said LSKA Deputy Chairwoman Lilita Kalnāja.
According to the LSKA, this issue requires a thorough and open discussion with the government’s social partners, representatives of the relevant sectors, and the public.
The association notes that the current system is unequal, as different professional groups have different conditions for receiving pensions. LSKA supports the Welfare Minister’s view that it is unacceptable for the statutory retirement age to be 65, while representatives of certain professions can retire at 50–55.
In the LSKA’s opinion, early retirement pensions should be preserved for professions whose work involves increased risks to public safety and health – such as military personnel, police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical service staff. However, civilians working in these services whose duties do not involve such risks should not receive pensions funded from the state budget.
The association stresses that early retirement pensions, unlike old-age pensions, are funded from the state budget and are significantly higher – averaging 80–90% of the previous salary, compared to an average of 40% for old-age pensions.
For certain professions, other forms of support – such as special allowances – could be introduced instead.
Since 1998, the early retirement pension system has been regularly expanded to include more professional groups, and now covers 15 categories. The association insists that before removing any profession from this list, all arguments must be carefully considered, because “this is a case where you measure seven times and only then cut.”
LSKA unites several non-governmental senior organisations from Riga and the regions. Founded in 2017 by the Riga Active Seniors Alliance, the associations “For Justice and Transparency,” “Holy Family Home,” “Mazirbe Friends’ Circle,” and “Mutual Aid Society,” it is run by a five-member board currently chaired by Astrīda Babāne. The association’s activities in 2025 are supported by the Ministry of Welfare.
As previously reported,
from 2027 several categories may no longer be eligible for the early retirement pension system.
Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (JV) has said that political discussions continue on how to reform the long-unchanged system. She noted that in many sectors currently entitled to early retirement pensions, wages have risen in recent years, but no changes have been made to pension eligibility. However, she emphasised that this is still an initial discussion – the issues must be debated both at government level and with trade unions and other government partners. In some professions, such as judges, employment regulations fall under the Saeima’s authority.
Politicians have been trying to address early retirement pension reform for years, but no changes have been made, largely due to strong resistance from workers in the affected sectors and warnings of possible mass resignations.
Several sectoral trade unions are dissatisfied with the current proposals for change, and have not ruled out applying to the Constitutional Court.
In June this year, the average early retirement pension in Latvia was 909.16 euros, up 16.22 euros from December last year, according to the State Social Insurance Agency. The number of recipients fell from 11,403 in December last year to 11,364 in June this year.
The highest average early retirement pension in June 2025 was in Ādaži Municipality at 1,041.76 euros, while the lowest was in Rēzekne Municipality at 788.03 euros.
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