The current pension calculation completely negates the realities of women’s lives. Any future pension reforms must focus on making the pension system fairer again.
AK President Andreas Stangl
Linz (OTS) – July 18th is Equal Pension Day. On this day, men in Upper Austria have already received as much pension as women will only receive by the end of the year. AK President Andreas Stangl sees the reasons for this in the disadvantage of women in the labor market.
Upper Austrian women receive an average pension of around 1,300 euros, men 2,391 euros. Calculated over a year, women receive around 15,000 euros less pension than men. The so-called gender pension gap in Upper Austria is 45.4 percent. Upper Austria is in second to last place in the national average – only in Vorarlberg is the difference even greater. The nationwide Equal Pension Day falls on August 6th in 2024.
The reasons why women are disadvantaged are the hurdles they already face in working life: long part-time phases, lower incomes or interruptions due to time spent raising children and caring for children. In addition, women carry out the majority of unpaid care work in the family.
Six out of ten Upper Austrians work part-time. Many of them lack a childcare place. Only around five percent of the places for children under three years of age in Upper Austria are suitable for full-time employment.
Pension calculations negate the realities of women’s lives
AK President Andreas Stangl criticizes: “The current pension calculation completely negates the realities of women’s lives. Any future pension reforms must focus on making the pension system fairer again.
“
The automatic pension splitting planned by the federal government cannot be a solution to the unequal treatment in the pension system, as it only distributes household income differently within the family, but does not combat female poverty in old age in the long term. In addition, it is only aimed at traditional families and completely ignores other types of families, such as patchwork families or single parents.
Despite a lack of equality in the world of work, women’s retirement age will be gradually raised from 60 to 65 by 2033, thus aligning it with that of men. All women born after January 1, 1964 are affected.
Measures must begin in working life
In order to improve women’s pensions, the disadvantages faced by women must be eliminated during their working careers. The Upper Austrian Chamber of Labor therefore demands:
- equal pay for work of equal value,
- a legal right to high-quality, full-time childcare from the child’s second year of life,
- the better recognition of child-rearing and care leave periods
Additional information
Questions & Contact:
Chamber of Labor Upper Austria
Tina Haderer
+43 (0)50/6906-2156
haderer.t@akooe.at
https://ooe.arbeiterkammer.at/