From one generation to the next: pension gaps between men and women in the private and public sectors

Context

Pension inequalities between men and women have become a political concern in France. Women’s direct-entitlement pensions are, on average, more than 40 per cent lower than those of men in the private sector, whilst the gap is narrower in the civil service, where they amount to 80 per cent of men’s pensions. Looking beyond the differences in average figures, analysing the gaps across the entire distribution helps to identify the factors driving these inequalities and the role of public policy in reducing them.

Presentation

This project builds on an earlier research programme entitled ‘The gender pension gap in the private and public sectors’. The aim of this project is twofold. Firstly, it aims to analyse gender inequalities across the pension distribution and to assess the contribution of the various pension components to these inequalities (survivors’ pensions, reference salary, qualifying service, minimum pension levels, and child-related supplements). A distinction will be made between pensioners in the private sector and those in the public sector (central government civil service and local authorities). Particular attention will be paid to the effectiveness of public policies in reducing inequalities, by examining the contribution of minimum pension levels to pension inequalities. The second part aims to measure the dynamics of pension inequalities between men and women in light of changes in labour market behaviour across generations (particularly for women) and their impact on qualifying periods and the reference salary.

Research Team

This project is led by the pole Pensions.

Carole Bonnet

Dominique Meurs

Method and Data

To this end, we will use several waves of the Inter-Scheme Sample of Pensioners (EIR) collected four years apart; this allows us, in particular, to distinguish between cohort effects and age effects in the analysis. We therefore compare the differences in retirement between women and men of the same age (66) across different generations – the last generation studied is that born in 1946, which by 2012 had almost entirely retired – and we identify the factors underlying the variations observed in the composition of these gaps. This will enable us to see whether the observed reduction in the average pension gap between men and women is also accompanied by a narrowing of the gaps at the top or bottom of the distribution.

Context

Presentation

Research Team

Method and Data

Partners