Carinthian women receive nearly 1,000 euros less in pensions

Women in Carinthia receive nearly 1,000 euros less per month in pension payments than men, ORF reported. The figures were discussed on Tuesday, Equal Pension Day, by Martina Gabriel, the state’s women’s and equality officer, in a live interview on ORF’s Carinthia news programme.

Equal Pension Day marks the date on which men have already received as much in pension payments as women will receive by the end of the year. Gabriel said the figures should set off alarm bells, describing the day as one of mourning rather than celebration.

She attributed the pension gap mainly to periods spent caring for children or relatives and to part-time work. Gaps in women’s employment histories caused by childcare or care work quickly become apparent in retirement, she said.

Gabriel called for the pension assessment basis for parental leave periods to be increased so women would receive higher pensions. She also said childcare and care work should be divided equally rather than being treated as an automatic responsibility for women.

She identified the pension calculation period as another disadvantage. Pension reform introduced in 2003 gradually extended the calculation period from 15 years to 40 years. Gabriel said a lifelong calculation period of 40 years or more was difficult for women with higher education and children, who consequently received lower pensions.

One way to strengthen women’s pensions would be pension splitting, under which the working partner transfers up to half of their pension entitlement to the non-working partner. Gabriel said Switzerland had a compulsory system of pension splitting, while Estonia had a pension gap of about 5 percent. She said Austria still had ground to make up and that political decisions could improve the situation.