Policy Avenues to Close the Gender Pension Gap.
-Women in the EU receive on average 24.5% less pension income than men, nearly double the gender pay gap, leaving them more exposed to poverty and financial dependence in old age;
-Lack of affordable childcare and gender inequality in care responsibilities increases the gender pension gap as these lower women’s lifetime attachment to paid work, including part-time employment or career interruptions, with pension systems either amplifying or mitigating these disparities;
-Based on experts’ interviews, this policy brief outlines two main and complementary policy avenues to reduce the gender pension gap;
-First, addressing women’s disproportionate share of unpaid care work, by ensuring greater investment in formal childcare, alongside policies that encourage shared caregiving and foster family-friendly work cultures;
-Second, ensuring greater equality in pension outcomes, by introducing care credits for periods of unpaid care work, shared pension contributions and benefits within households, as well as measures to improve women’s access to pension schemes and strengthen pension literacy.
CASABIANCA Elizabeth;
SMALLENBROEK Oscar;
NURMINEN Minna;
PIRELLI Lorenzo;
2026-05-18
European Commission
JRC145982
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC145982,
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