EU Conference on Gender Pension Gap
How can the pension gap be closed?
LSC/VS – 02/2024
On 8
February, the High Level Conference of the Belgian Council Presidency on the
"Gender Pension Gap" took place in Brussels. The gender pension gap
describes the differences in retirement income between women and men. The
question of how this pension gap can be reduced in future was discussed by
high-ranking politicians with experts from the European Commission and the
Member States, including
the Belgian Minister of Pensions and Social Integration, Karine Lalieux, the Belgian Minister for the
Self-Employed and SMEs, David Clarinval, and the German State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Dr Rolf Schmachtenberg.
Reflection of employmen histories
The
gender pension gap reflects the differences in the employment histories of men
and women. This includes, for example, the unequal distribution between paid
employment and the unequal distribution of unpaid care work between men and
women, such as childcare or care for the elderly, but also family support, home
care or help among friends. In addition, women work part-time more often than
men and take more frequent and longer breaks from work for family reasons. In
addition, women's earnings are still significantly lower than those of men
(gender pay gap).
However,
the gender pension gap should not be interpreted as an expression of a
precarious income situation for women in old age. The income situation of women
in old age depends on the income situation of the household in which they live.
Other sources of income are also included, such as capital income, income from
leasing and rentals or from employment of other household members. The gender
pension gap therefore not only encompasses women's independent retirement income,
but also their economic dependency.
Changing role models
The
pension gap mainly relates to women who are retired today, meaning those whose working
lives predominantly began before 1970. At that time, more traditional
partnership models, in which only the man was employed, for example, were much
more common than they are today. However, role perceptions and life plans have
changed considerably. This is also reflected in the steady increase in female
labour force participation, which has risen by almost twelve % in the
European Union (EU) and by a good 14 % in Germany since 2002.
Structuring the pension systems
In
addition to the employment history, the design of the pension systems also has
a direct influence on the gender pension gap, thus on its reduction. At the
conference organised
by the Belgian Council Presidency, this was illustrated by way of best
practice examples.
Susan Kuivalainen from the Finnish Centre for Pensions presented an
easily accessible pension calculator that enables Finnish insured persons to
find out the consequences of a reduction in their employment on their future
retirement income. Dina Frommert from the German Pension Insurance explained
pension splitting, which divides pension entitlements acquired during marriage
in the event of divorce. Giselda Curvers and Dries van der Bosch also explained
the positive impact of the basic pension on women in Belgium. Three different
measures that benefit women and can reduce the gender pension gap.
A matter of access
Over the course of the event, it also became clear that reducing the gender pension gap can only
be achieved through equal access to the labour market and to social protection.
The same applies to an equal distribution of paid work and unpaid care work
between men and women. In addition, access to company and private pension
schemes must be given greater consideration. For example, the gender pension
gap for occupational pensions is significantly higher than that for statutory
pension insurance.
Call for a Gender Pension Gap Network
Analogous
to the European Minimum Income Network for the evaluation of minimum incomes in
Europe, Lalieux and Schmachtenberg proposed the establishment of a Gender
Pension Gap Network. The European statistical office Eurostat and the indicator group of the European Union's
Social Protection Committee have created comprehensive statistics and analysis
tools. This should be utilised
systematically, in order to gradually close the pension gap.