August 2021

Argentina’s new pensions programme pays women for caregiving

The Argentine government is seeking to redress that gender inequity by assigning a pension contribution value to the time people have spent raising children. Read also It’s time to give essential workers the protections they deserve The programme, launched this week, marks the first time the role of an unpaid caregiver has been recognised by the Argentine state as something akin to work. The policy is expected to enable 155,000 more women to collect a pension immediately. Read also Towards Improved Retirement...

July 2021

Towards Improved Retirement Savings Outcomes for Women

By OECD Labour market inequalities are well-known to be the main drivers of the gender pension gap. This publication focuses on helping governments find solutions for retirement savings arrangements that do not further exacerbate these inequalities. This study first analyses why the gender pension gap exists and sheds light on some of the behavioural and cultural factors that contribute to these inequalities. Country case studies assess how demographics, labour markets and other factors may affect gaps in pension coverage, assets...

Joint Retirement of Couples: Evidence from Discontinuities in Denmark

By Esteban García-Miralles & Jonathan M. Leganza We study how social security influences the retirement behavior of couples. First, we exploit over two decades of full-population data and a discontinuity design to document sizable retirement spillovers to spouses when individuals reach pension eligibility age. Next, we explore underlying mechanisms. We find age differences within couples to be a fundamental determinant of joint retirement, which is driven by older spouses working longer. Accounting for these age differences reveals a strong gender...

The Fintech Gender Gap

By Sharon Chen, Sebastian Doerr, Jon Frost, Leonardo Gambacorta & Hyun Song Shin Fintech promises to spur financial inclusion and close the gender gap in access to financial services. Using novel survey data for 28 countries, this paper finds a large 'fintech gender gap': while 29% of men use fintech products and services, only 21% of women do. The gap is present in almost every country in our sample. Country characteristics and several individual-level controls explain about a third of...

UK. DWP failed in communicating women’s state pension age changes

Government officials were too slow to tell many women they would be affected by the rising state pension age, the Parliamentary Ombudsman has ruled. The finding brings the prospect of compensation closer for thousands of women born in the 1950s who have long been furious about the issue. It marks a significant victory for the Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaign. However, the ombudsman has no power to refund "lost" pensions. It is also unable to recommend that anyone receive their state...

Fewer women than men will regain employment during the COVID-19 recovery says ILO

The inequalities between women and men in the world of work that have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic will persist in the near future, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). A new policy brief finds there will be 13 million fewer women in employment in 2021 compared to 2019, while men’s employment will have recovered to 2019 levels. Even though the projected jobs growth in 2021 for women exceeds that of men, it will, nonetheless, be insufficient to...

UK. Women expected to be hit hardest if triple lock scrapped

Women will be hit the hardest if the government scraps the triple lock on the state pension, as they are almost twice as likely to rely on the benefit, according to Barnett Waddingham (BW). Research from the firm showed that 30 per cent of women do not have any private or workplace pensions, and were therefore likely receive a state pension only at retirement, while 17 per cent of men were in the same position. BW’s survey results showed that this...

Germany finally launches basic pension scheme

Germany’s basic pension scheme kicks off this July Shortly before the federal election in September, Germany’s coalition government is finally delivering on its promise to top-up insubstantial pension benefits to ensure a basic standard of living for all retirees who have contributed to the social security system. Under the new system, anyone who has contributed towards a German pension for at least 33 years will qualify for a basic pension. This includes not just time spent working, but also time taken...

What would women’s pensions look like if there wasn’t a gender pay gap? The economic case for gender-inclusive, paid parental leave

By Pension Bee PensionBee’s vision is a world where everyone can look forward to a happy retirement. For this to happen, we all need good health, financial freedom, and social inclusion. Currently, an obstacle to achieving this financial freedom for all is a gender pension gap of up to almost 60%. Bold action is required to challenge this so that women can enjoy similar levels of wealth in retirement as men. This is particularly important as women tend to live longer...

UK. Women’s pensions ‘would gain over £106k on average’ if new fathers did half of unpaid care work, report finds

Women are losing out on over £100,000 in their pension pots on average due to men not taking on an equal share of unpaid care work in the early years of child-rearing, a new report has found. Read also UK. Half of millennials want cryptocurrencies in pensions The "gender pension gap" is a known issue. Women are more likely to be left in poverty on retirement because they typically work fewer hours due to caring responsibilities from their late twenties onwards,...