The economic impact of gender-based violence is “often the most underestimated” form, the head of Italy’s Pension Funds Supervisory Commission (COVIP) has argued.

Speaking at a Parliamentary Committee session on an inquiry into feminicide and all forms of gender-based violence on 13 May, COVIP president, Mario Pepe, gave details on supplementary pension coverage in Italy.

He also discussed how retirement savings education can be used to counter economic violence and how economic violence can manifest itself in different ways.

“It can manifest itself in different ways, fostered by sociocultural factors that operate from childhood. Indeed, women often receive less stimulation on economic-financial issues than their male peers, developing less interest and skills in managing their own (and their family's) financial resources,” he said.

“This can lead to economic dependence on their partners, effectively restricting their freedom and resulting in economic violence through, for example, controlling
resources, embezzling money and preventing access to work.”

Regarding supplementary pensions, at the end of 2024, membership was around 10 million, representing 36 per cent of the labour force. However, Pepe said that women's participation in these pension plans (32.8 per cent of the
female labour force) remains about seven percentage points lower than that of
men (40 per cent of the male labour force).

He explained: “This phenomenon can also be explained by the difficulties women face as a result of wage gaps and more discontinuous careers, which make it less easy to accumulate contributions for pension purposes in both the first and second pillars.”

In addition, he stated that once enrolled, women’s preference for lower risk, and therefore, less profitable assets, does not allow them to take full advantage of their ability to accumulate adequate retirement savings.

However, Pepe believes that financial and welfare education can play an “important role” in raising awareness about the importance of women's economic independence and financial resilience and in reducing the risk of gender-based violence.

He detailed how COVIP, as part of its institutional tasks to protect retirement
savings, works to publicise information on retirement savings issues and has participated, since its establishment, in the activities of the government’s financial education committee, Edufin, to raise knowledge on these issues.

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