The gender pension gap in Sweden has narrowed and currently stands at 20 per cent, according to the Swedish Pensions Agency.

The gap between men’s and women’s pensions reflects income inequality during working life. The agency said that there are several possible measures to reduce the pension gap but all, in principle, would lead to a reduced link between work and pensions.

The gender pension gap in the state pension has narrowed over time to 20 per cent. However, the gap in disposable income between women and men who have taken out a pension is almost 30 per cent (2019) and has barely changed since the 1990s.

This is explained, among other things, by the fact that occupational pensions, earnings and capital income have increased their share of the total income of pensioners.

"If everyone who goes to work tomorrow were to receive equal income, pensions would eventually become equal, more specifically in half a lifetime. But then pensions will only be equal for new pensioners,” Swedish Pensions Agency analyst and author of the report, Can pensions become more equal, Kristin Kirs.

The reasons for the pension gap have long been known and mechanisms for closing the gap are in the state pension. But narrowing the gap usually requires measures that erode the link between work and retirement, the so-called life income principle, which was one of the legislature's intentions with pension reform in the 1990s.

"Fully equal pensions today require a clean national pension, equal for everyone regardless of salary, something that has previously been rejected politically. The legislator needs to decide whether there is a difference in pensions that can still be accepted as equal," Kirs said.

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