New statistics from Germany’s Ministry for Statistics indicate that retirement income for German women is 27.1 per cent lower than it is for men.

The data, which was released at the end of last month, says that women over the age of sixty-five will receive an average gross retirement of €18,700 per year, compared to the male average of €25,600. The Ministry also said that, excluding survivor’s pensions, the gender gap stands at 39.4 per cent.

A statement from the Ministry reads: “On average, women's retirement incomes were more than a quarter lower than men's. There are many reasons for this disparity: On average, women acquire lower pension rights over the course of their working lives because they sometimes work in lower-paid sectors than men. Women are also more likely to work part-time, take more frequent and longer time off for care work, and are less likely to be in management positions.”

An interesting aspect of the research is that there are ‘significant differences’ between the former Eastern and Western states of Germany. Progressive, western Germany has a gender pension gap of 43.8 per cent, compared to 18.6 per cent in the states and territory belonging to the former German Democratic Republic.

The Ministry said: “On average, men in the East receive lower retirement income than men in the West (East: €20,404, West: €26,541; in each case excluding survivors' pensions). On the other hand, women in the East receive on average higher retirement income than women in the West (East: €16,605, West: €14,916; in each case without survivors' pensions).”

It was also reported by the Ministry that the proportion of people experiencing severe material and social deprivation was only slightly higher for women aged 65 and over (4.5 per cent) than for men of the same age (4.3 per cent). For example, these people are unable to pay their bills on time, heat their homes adequately, or are financially unable to cover unexpected expenses from their own resources or replace worn-out garments with new ones.

The gender pensions gap across is an issue that has been at the forefront of Europe's minds in recent months. At the end of February, EIOPA released a policy report on the issue, saying the issue existed across both public and private pensions.

It wrote, quoting its own 2022 Consumer Trends Report: “[There] is a gender gap in access to insurance and pension products. For example, 56 per cent of women, compared to 46 per cent of men, say they are not confident they would have enough money to live comfortably through retirement, according to the Eurobarometer survey.”

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