The gender dimensions of pension systems: Policies and constraints for the protection of older women

ARZA, CAMILA

UN Women Discussion Paper

UN Women

Año: 2015

978163214

The paper first identifies the main aspects of women´s life courses as well as the key pension design features that matter for women´s pension entitlements. It reviews the structure, objectives and instruments ofpension systems (including contributory social insurance, defined contribution individual accounts and multi-pillar systems) and identifies the key sources of gender inequality in pension entitlements in a context of gendered labour markets. It also briefly addresses the main pension reform directions after the global crisis and their likely impact on women´s benefits. A separate section is dedicated to non-contributorypensions: their development around the world, and the potential they have to address existing gaps in access to old age protection across gender and income groups. And a final section discusses some of the mostrelevant components built into contributory pension systems to protect women in the family, including pension rights for widows and divorcees and contribution credits for caregivers.