Pension Qualifying Period

• For raising a toddler until the age of three;
• For raising a child (8 years).

The agreement shall be evidenced by a written consent.

Example 1. Toomas and Hilja were not married. Both were in their twenties when they had a daughter Maarika. Toomas is marked as Maarika’s father on the birth certificate. When the girl was two, Toomas left the family. Today, Hilja is applying for a pension. She must add a written consent by Toomas to the application that raising Maarika will be calculated among Hilja’s years of pensionable service.

Example 2. Peeter and Liivia were married and had two children – Piia and Pille. Gunnar and Kersti were married and had also two children – Lauri and Laura. Years went by, lives changed, and Gunnar divorced his first wife Kersti and married Liivia, who had just split up with her husband Peeter. Liivia’s children from the first marriage (Piia and Pille), and Gunnar’s younger child Laura, who was 7 when her father got married again, were living with Liivia and Gunnar. Today, Liivia is retiring. She has got a written consent from Peeter that she can calculate raising Piia and Pille among her years of pensionable service. As Liivia has raised Gunnar’s younger child Laura for 8 years and been married to Laura’s father Gunnar during this period then, at the consent of both biological parents (at the consent of Gunnar and Kersti), she can add raising Laura also among her years of pensionable service.

Working and studying at the territory of the Soviet Union until 31.12.1990 shall be calculated among the years of pensionable service if you have at least 15 years of Estonian pension qualifying period.

The mandatory military service and alternative service duration at the territory of the Soviet Union until 31.12.1990 shall be calculated among the years of pensionable service, on the condition that all the following conditions are met:

• You were sent to service from Estonia;
• You have at least 15 years of Estonian pension qualifying period;
• No other country is paying you pension for this time period.

or

• Before and after sending to service from outside Estonia, you were living in Estonia;
• You have at least 15 years of Estonian pension qualifying period;
• No other country is paying you pension for this time period.

If you were unemployed and received unemployment insurance benefits or unemployment allowance from the Unemployment Insurance Fund, the state paid the social tax for your health insurance part (13%) to ensure you had valid health insurance. However, the social tax for pension insurance (20%) was not paid on these benefits.

Therefore, for this period, pensionable service is not counted, and the insurance and solidarity components that affect the pension amount are not calculated.

To receive an old-age pension, a person must have at least 15 years of pensionable service. For those with partial or no work ability, the minimum service requirement is reduced. For every three years in which a person had a partial or no work ability, the service requirement is reduced by one year.

Example: If a person had six years of partial or no work ability, the minimum service requirement would be reduced by two years, meaning the person must have at least 13 years of pensionable service to receive the old-age pension.

Calculation of old-age pension for people with no work ability

If a person had no work ability, two amounts are compared:

1. The actual old-age pension they have earned.
2. The pension calculated based on 30 years of pensionable service.

The person will receive the pension at the most favorable rate.

Example: A person with no work ability and 24 years of pensionable service had their old-age pension calculated as €700 per month. With 30 years of pensionable service, the pension would be €677,2465 (30 years x €10 year value + €377,2465 base amount).
Since their actual old-age pension is higher than the pension calculated for 30 years of service, the person will receive the old-age pension at the more favorable rate, i.e., €700 per month.

Calculation of old-age pension for people with partial work capacity

If a person had partial work capacity, two amounts are compared:

1. The actual old-age pension they have earned.
2. 60 percent of the old-age pension based on 30 years of pensionable service.

The person will receive the pension at the most favorable rate.

Example: A person with 21 years of partial work ability and 12 years of pensionable service had their old-age pension calculated as €450 per month. With 30 years of pensionable service, the pension would be €677,2465 (30 years x €10 year value  + 377,2465 base amount).
60% of this amount is €406,3479. Since the actual calculated old-age pension is higher than the pension calculated for 30 years of service, the person will receive the old-age pension at the more favorable rate, i.e., €450 per month.

If you were registered as unemployed and received unemployment benefit or participated in labor market training until 31.12.1998, that period will be counted as part of your pensionable service.

The time during which you received unemployment benefits or participated in labor market training will be considered. Unemployment benefit receipt and participation in training are confirmed by a certificate issued by the Unemployment Insurance Fund, which is inquired by the Social Insurance Board.