Women’s Day : the pension reform is beneficial to women

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day the Minister for Pensions would like to emphasize that – contrary to what some may claim – the government’s pension reforms will have a positive impact.

I              A positive impact confirmed by various public bodies

In their latest reports analyzing the pension reforms the Federal Planning Bureau, the Study Committee on Population Ageing and Belgium’s Central Bank come to the same conclusions: the reforms that have been adopted will not only permit an increase in the average pension sum but also a decrease in the risk of poverty amongst employees with incomplete careers, the majority of whom are women.

II             A new « social » pension bonus which will be beneficial to women in particular

Within the framework of the tax shift the federal government has decided to allocate 25 million euros to the revaluation of the minimum pension. This allocation will permit to raise the minimum pensions by 0.7%  for pensioners with a complete career (45 years) in the pension system for employees and self-employed persons. On the basis of the figures provided by the National Pensions Office this revaluation of the minimum pension sum will have a positive impact on the women in the pension system for employees. The measures will be beneficial to 76,000 pensioners 52,000 of whom are women, being 69% of the total amount of beneficiaries.

III            The modernization of the family dimension as stipulated by the coalition agreement

The coalition agreement envisages modernizing our pension system and bringing it into line with changing realities in society, in particular insofar as the family dimension is concerned. The definition of concrete measures and their modalities will be examined by the government in close cooperation with the National Pension Committee and the Academic Council (the Vandenbroucke Commission). In this context the government will first examine the manner in which pension rights can be shared, thereby looking to other European countries for inspiration.

Minister for Pensions Daniel BACQUELAINE : « I would like to implement pension reforms which will contribute to lowering inequality between men and women. All indicators confirm to me that we are on the right track».