The pension gap between men and women will partly decrease over the years. In recent decades, women have started to work more than the generations of their mothers and grandmothers. In 2005, a woman in her sixties had accrued a pension of more than 2,000 euros per year on top of the AOW, in 2014 this had risen to around 5,500 euros per year.
But the curve of that increase is flattening. Knoef: “At this rate, it will not be possible to close the gap in the next twenty years”.
Partner leave and awareness
That is why the Netspar researchers propose solutions to reduce the differences between pension benefits to men and women more quickly. One solution is to favor women by boosting their labor participation, for example by giving preference to a female applicant even in the event of unequal suitability. The researchers do foresee legal hurdles for these kinds of solutions.
“Another solution is a labor market policy to reduce part-time work for women or increase it for men,” says Knoef. Consider, for example, extending partner leave – so that women are less hindered from working after childbirth – and expanding the options for working from home.
The researchers also argue for better information about pensions. A better understanding of what working less ultimately means for their pension could lead to women working less part-time.
–
