Gender Gap in Pensions: Looking ahead

The study was commissioned overseen and published by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the FEMM Committee. The issue of gender gap in pensions has aroused increasing attention over recent years. While the current gap in pension levels between men and women reflects past labour market tendencies and design of pension systems, pronounced changes have occurred with regard to both employment of women and pension systems. The ageing population has stimulated revision to pension systems, including raising retirement age and the introduction of a closer correspondence between lifetime earnings and pension levels. These changes will influence the pattern in the future gender pension gap. This report recommends an approach to assessment of the future gender pension gap using the Forward-looking Gender Pension Gap Index. The index proposed spans two domains: the employment gap and pension system compensation. Both these domains impact tomorrow’s distribution of pensions between men and women.