Figures have come to light that reflect the economic difference between men's and women's pensions in Spain (which is also widespread in the European Union). There are several reasons that have led to this, and today we want to expose them, offering the real data.
Reasons for the difference in pensions received
Indeed, men receive much higher retirement pensions on average to those received by women. This gender gap is due to three specific issues:
- The gender pay gap is a latent reality in our society, and although it is slowly being corrected, it is still very present in the Spanish and European labour market (according to the European Commission, the average is 20% for the same type of job).
- Professional careers also differ greatly in their length., if we distinguish between women and men. The incorporation of women into the labour market has been late and, although nowadays women are joining the labour market at the same time, retired women are doing so with far fewer years of contributions behind them compared to men. This has a major impact on pensions, given that more than 35 years of contributions are required to receive the 100%.
- The number of hours worked per week, is also not the same. This, although not completely, justifies part of the wage differential mentioned above. As the retirement pension is directly linked to the amount of contributions, a lower wage means a lower pension.
The data we are concerned about
We would like to give a series of data that fully illustrate this problem:
- Despite the fact that more than 51% of the pensions granted are for women, less than 37% of these pensions are retirement pensions. In other words, most of them are widows', orphans', etc. pensions, which tend to be lower in amount.
- Women account for more than 801T3T of pensions between 350 and 400 euros, while they account for only 191T3T3T of pensions above 2,500 euros.
- The average pension for women is 765 euros, while the average pension for men is over 1,200 euros.
Here is the complete data, according to pay bracket, with the percentages between women and men:
How to improve our pensions
As is well known, the pensions currently enjoyed are very difficult to maintain in the medium term, given the difficult situation in which the economy finds itself. Social Security.
That is why we need to consider how we can increase our income once we retire. There is only one answer: by saving now. The real question is through which products I can do this. There are several:
- Pension schemes: which is tax-deductible for our contributions but penalises on redemption
- PIAS: tax advantage on surrender as an annuity
- SIALP: their tax improvement is in the form of capital relief
- Other products: there are alternatives that are linked to investment funds or are riskier than guaranteed options
If you want, we can help you to improve your pension with a pension plan. Our Savings and Investment Department can do so, and we will be happy to listen to you first, and then to offer you the solutions that best suit you.
