Pension for women with two or more children increased

The mothers who retire from January 2016 will see their pensions increased. The beginning of the year brings with it a rise in pensions for women with two or more children, between 5 and 15 percent. The entry into force of this measure is part of the plan of measures to support maternity included in the Comprehensive Family Support Plan approved by the Government in May 2015.

So, women who have hadtwo children your pension will be increased in a 5 percent, if they have had three children your pension will increase by 10 percent and those that have had four children or more will increase a 15 percent.

It is estimated that this increase in pensions will be for a total of 123,357 beneficiaries in 2016 and will have a budget of 51.6 million euros in this exercise, although the initiative will be permanent, according to data provided by the government.

Reduction of inequality between men and women

This rise in pensions for women who have been mothers also affects women who have adopted children and is aimed at reducing the existing gap in pensions for men and women. The measure is included to reduce inequality since it is women who usually reduce their working hours to assume family responsibilities.

Currently, the average pension of a male is 1,500 euros and that of a woman is 1,096 euros, that is, 30 percent lower. Ninety-eight percent of requests for leave to care for children are from women and not from men.

As the number of women who will see their pension improved will increase year by year, the budget will grow proportionally. The increase in the economic amount will affect contributory, retirement, permanent disability and widowhood pensions as of today.

Compensatory pensions for motherhood

Although the measure increases the value of motherhood, it is discriminatory for all those mothers who have had only one child, who will not be rewarded for their maternal effort in the future pension. For this reason, some institutions, such as the Family Policy Institute (IPF), have described as "insufficient" this measure, which will only benefit mothers with two or more children and will be "discriminatory" for those with one child.

For its part, the Spanish Federation of Large Families (FEFN) has valued that "initially support mothers, as they have much more limited work projection for motherhood, but has shown their desire to extend also to the parents, so that the contribution to society of both parents is recognized ".

Does it also affect voluntary early retirement?

The supplement of the maternity pension and number of children will not be applied in the case of early access to retirement at the will of the interested party. In the case of partial retirement, it is not contemplated either, although it will be assigned when partial retirement is granted full retirement, once the age corresponding in each case has been reached.

In the event that the woman has a concurrence of pensions of the Social Security system, the child supplement will only be recognized for one of the pensions, that is, the one that the beneficiary chooses according to the following order of preference: a the pension that is more favorable and that of retirement if it coincides with that of widowhood.

Marisol Nuevo Espin