Social insurance 

Doctoral students, together with other university students, have not been subject to social insurance since 1 January 2010, nor have they been subject to other financial benefits, including maternity benefits, sick pay, and nursing care. The long-term research they have been carrying out was therefore not included in the insurance period required to calculate the amount of their future old-age pension. 

As of 1 January 2026, the so-called replacement insurance period for doctoral students came into effect again under the pension reform. In the future, they will be able to claim the completed 4 years of their first doctoral studies for pension entitlement, with this period being counted at 80%. The situation for female doctoral students and their entitlement to maternity leave has also been resolved, at least partially, as from 1 January 2025, the period of interrupted studies due to pregnancy will also be counted towards their entitlement to maternity benefits. The specific wording of the legislative changes can be found in the Pension Insurance Act and the Sickness Insurance Act. The Czech Social Security Administration also provides information on these topics or on the Finance.cz portal 

However, social insurance is not paid, which, given the predicted demographic development and the state of public finances, is not conducive to your future pension. However, there are several alternative options for dealing with this. In addition to voluntary participation in social insurance for a qualified reason and supplementary pension savings, there are now forms of an increasingly popular long-term investment product available through passive investing (Portu, Fondee) or for more daring and active trading (XTB, Trading 212). For more information, visit the websites of the individual platforms.