935 euro pension gap

A lifetime of work and then minimum pension

Gender gap in pensions: low-paid jobs, raising children and part-time work cost women thousands of euros in old age. For many, the money is not enough to live on and they are then dependent on social benefits. The SPÖ criticizes the government.

July 30 is the day on which men in Styria will have already received as much pension as women will receive by the end of the year. Female pensioners receive 935 euros less per month - that is almost 42 percent.

The root of the problem lies in the past. "It's about every month that women pay into the pension system," says SPÖ Women's Chair Eva-Maria Holzleitner. Due to employment in low-paid sectors, part-time work, unpaid work at home and breaks to bring up children, the end result is a sum that is barely enough to live on. "Only 2163 euros are taken into account for the pension during parental leave - that is less than the median income in Austria," Holzleitner continues to criticize.

This is how big the pension gap will be in 2024 according to a calculation by Vienna's MA 23(Bild: stock.adobe.com/Krone KREATIV)

Many retired women will then be dependent on social benefits, says State Councillor Doris Kampus. "67 percent of those who receive housing benefits are women," she gives an example. "Women who have worked all their lives end up on the minimum pension."

Helga Ahrer from the trade union federation knows the situation first hand. Many young women don't think about their pension when they become mothers and get married. "But it still happens that a man and a woman with the same education, the same experience and the same responsibility earn different amounts. When we then call our line manager, we are often told: 'Bad negotiation'." But that is not a reason that would justify unequal pay.

Elisabeth Grossmann, Verena Nussbaum, Eva-Maria Holzleitner, Doris Kampus and Hannes Schwarz(Bild: SPÖ Frauen Steiermark)

"Another classic is the family business in which the woman is not registered," she says. "They are then effectively left empty-handed later on."

Criticism of the ÖVP's "grandparental leave"
The SPÖ is once again calling for free childcare throughout Austria with a legal entitlement. The women see no solution to the problems in the ÖVP's proposal to send grandmas and grandpas on parental leave. "This shifts the burden of women further into the private sphere," says Holzleitner.

There is also hope in the wage transparency law, which the EU passed in 2023 and which the federal government has until 2026 to implement. MEP Elisabeth Grossmann hopes for "really tangible sanctions" for companies that discriminate against one gender in terms of pay. "Raising awareness is the only way forward."