Starting the new year of 2024, seniors and people working for the minimum wage in the Czech Republic can anticipate higher incomes. Alongside this, guaranteed wages for certain professions will also increase. However, due to this growth, people without taxable incomes, such as older full-time students or homemakers, will have to dig deeper into their pockets for health insurance.
In January, pensions will increase for the vast majority of pensioners, including retirement, disability, widows’ and orphans’ pensions, by 360 crowns. Only the introductory pension rate will increase, reaching 4400 crowns. The merit, or percentage part, will not increase due to the previous extraordinary valorization. Thus, the average old-age pension should be 20,635 crowns.
The Czech Social Security Administration has warned, “Only pensioners who reach 85 years of age in January will have the percentage rate increased by a thousand crowns.” This, however, happens throughout the year for all pensioners who reach this age.
The minimum wage will also increase. It will rise from 17,300 to 18,900 gross monthly crowns from the New Year. When converted to net salaries, it should amount to 16,442 Kč.
The rise of the minimum wage will make health insurance more expensive for people without taxable income, such as housewives, some university students over 26 years old, excluding doctoral students, or the unemployed, whom the Labour Office does not register. The condition is that the state or an employer does not pay their insurance. It will cost them from 2336 to 2552 crowns. Similarly, the minimum insurance of employees will increase.
Due to an increase in the average wage, minimum prepayments for entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals will also increase. For social insurance, they will pay 3852 crowns for the main activity and 1413 crowns monthly for the secondary activity. For those starting a primary activity, the minimum prepayment is 3210 Kč. Health insurance will increase for them in the main activity from 2722 to 2968 crowns. For the secondary activity, prepayments do not apply. The minimum voluntary monthly sickness insurance for the year 2024 is 216 crowns.