An accessory for tightening the gender gap: overcoming deception

Abstract

The significant gender gap in the amount of social security pensions is an indirect effect of the wage gap in the labour market, so that the full and definitive elimination of the former depends on overcoming the latter. However, until this is achieved, certain direct corrective measures must be adopted within the social security regulations. The increase in parents' pensions introduced from 2016 onwards indirectly did some of this, although it had enormous technical shortcomings and above all did not pass through the filter of the requirements of EU law prohibiting discriminatory treatment.

With a view to overcoming the impasse caused by the Luxembourg Court ruling and with a view to designing a formula that directly aims to correct the gender gap in pensions, the new supplement introduced at the beginning of 2021 is established. The present study aims to analyse the lights and shadows of this new supplement, which of course has significant advantages and overcomes the problem caused by the European case law, although it also points out certain shortcomings that could be corrected in the future.