The Danish parliament should consider making legal changes to ensure that pensions, including lifelong pensions, can be shared upon divorce, AkademikerPension has said.

The comments, which were shared ahead of a debate on pension sharing by the Danish Parliament's Gender Equality Committee and Business Committee, argued that "a change in the law is necessary" to help address the widening gender pensions gap.

AkademikerPension noted that pension savings are often one of the largest assets in a family in Denmark, on par with or second only to real estate, but are often not divided when couples separate.

The provider argued that this is particularly problematic given that almost half of all marriages end in divorce, warning that this could be exacerbating the gender equality issues already seen in pension saving.

Indeed, among AkademikerPension members, men have almost 11 per cent more in their pension accounts than women, an average of DKK 300,000, with an even greater disparity seen in the wider population.

Since 2007, spouses have typically kept their own pension savings upon divorce, if it is assessed as "reasonable", which means that each spouse keeps their share.

But as women have typically saved less, this means that, in practice, many women are left with significantly lower pension assets than men after a divorce.  

AkademikerPension suggested that spouses can mitigate the risk of inequality by entering into a marriage contract and sharing installment pensions and capital pensions.

However, it warned that lifelong pensions, which are one of the most common forms of pension among Danish employees, cannot even be shared through a marriage contract, making it difficult for spouses to ensure a fair distribution even if they wish to do so.

"It is unfair in terms of gender equality that pension assets are not included in the estate in the event of divorce," AkademikerPension director, Jens Munch Holst, said.

"Far too many people, especially women, are involuntarily punished for having taken long maternity leave and working part-time."

 

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