European Parliament sets priorities relevant to pension insurance.

The European Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) and Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) committees adopted a joint initiative report (INI) on the gender pay and pension gap on 28 January. The report was adopted with 58 votes in favour, 6 against and 15 abstentions. The plenary vote is scheduled for March 25th. Even if the report is not legally binding, it has a political influence for future EU initiatives and national pension policy debates.

Central statements related to pension insurance

The report finds that jobs in female-dominated industries are often undervalued and paid less, despite women's increasing educational attainment. These structural differences also have a long-term impact on pension entitlements. According to MEPs, higher female labor force participation could not only help reduce wage and pension gaps, but also alleviate skills shortages, strengthen the EU's economic performance and, in the long term, strengthen the financing base of pay-as-you-go pension systems.

Parliament expressly points out that periods of unpaid care and caring work save considerable state costs, but are often not taken into account in pension law or only to a limited extent.

Unequal distribution of care work as a central cause

The report identifies the unequal distribution of unpaid care and domestic work as a key cause of the pension gap. Insufficient investment in childcare and long-term care, high costs and poor quality of provision made it difficult for women to fully participate in the labor market. Parliament is therefore calling for the expansion of high-quality care and nursing services, measures to improve the balance between work and family, and incentives for men to make greater use of parental and care leave, including non-transferable and appropriately remunerated paternity leave. These aspects are explicitly linked to long-term effects on pension entitlements. The report also calls for the rapid implementation of EU legal acts that have already been passed and have indirect relevance for pension entitlements.

Amendments: Focus on life course perspective

The amendments tabled in the committee procedure have sharpened the report in three points in particular:

• Greater consideration of care periods as retirement-relevant phases,
   
• Reference to minimum security mechanisms to reduce poverty among women in old age,
   
• Clearer connection between labor market and pension policy in the context of demographic change.
   

The changes underline the strategic nature of the report without suggesting concrete interventions in national pension systems.

Cross-party support with different accents

The majority of parliamentary groups support the goal of reducing the gender pension gap. For the Social Democratic and Green factions, the focus is on the role of public pension systems and greater pension law recognition of care work. The European People's Party (EPP) highlights in a debate that pension and wage gaps also represent economic inefficiencies and weaken Europe's ability to respond to demographic and labor market challenges.

Outlook: Importance for pension policy

No concrete legislative proposals have been announced yet. The design of pension entitlements and contribution regulations remains the responsibility of the member states. The report confirms that gender-specific pension differences result primarily from different employment histories. For pay-as-you-go pension systems, this creates the ongoing challenge of combining social policy compensation mechanisms with contribution equivalence, work incentives and long-term financial stability.