Penalized by inequalities during their careers, women are also penalized in retirement. The Court of Auditors published this Wednesday morning an inventory of the situation, highlighting "still significant" pension gaps between the two sexes. This observation undermines the wish enshrined in the Social Security Code, according to which "the Nation also assigns to the pay-as-you-go pension system an objective of solidarity between generations and within each generation, in particular through equality between women and men".
The objective of pension parity "is far from being achieved", summarized Pierre Moscovici, president of the Court of Auditors. In 2020, women received a pension 40% lower than that of men. A difference of 777 euros - 1931 euros on the one hand, 1154 euros on the other, excluding survivors' pensions - which has certainly decreased over time, but which remains massive in the private sector, reaching nearly 50%. "The dispersion of pension amounts is almost twice as large among former employees in the private sector as among former civil servants," the auditors note.
However, various measures, such as minimum social benefits or survivors' pensions, make it possible to mitigate these gaps: in 2020, for example, the gap fell from 40% to 28%, between women's pensions before and after taking into account survivors, according to the Court. "Without solidarity schemes, the average direct pension of women would be 50% lower than that of men," noted Pierre Moscovici.
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Unequal careers, unequal pensions
Not surprisingly, these pension inequalities can be explained by divergent career paths between the sexes. Women are more affected by part-time work and career breaks. The gap is particularly visible on part-time work, used by 28% of women, in 2021, compared to only 8.3% for men. As a result, women generally earn less than men, with the average gap estimated at "22.3% in 2019". The result of different training and professions, as well as "discrimination". All these points weigh on the pensions of new retirees when they liquidate their rights.
In addition to these aspects, the Court considers that the rules governing the operation of the system penalise women "in practice". First, the general scheme uses the best twenty-five years of career to calculate the pension, but female workers do not always meet this condition. Similarly, women benefit little from long-career mechanisms, and tend to work longer to offset their choppy paths.
Over the years, inequality has seen tentative improvements. The gaps have narrowed slightly: survivors' pensions taken into account, the difference has decreased from 35% to 28%, between 2004 and 2020. Listeners expect this movement to continue, but slowly: the total pension gap should thus increase to 17% in 2040, but it "should not disappear". By way of comparison, other countries, such as Denmark, are already faring much better: France is only in an "intermediate" situation, compared to its neighbors.
The Court therefore calls first of all for "actions on the labour market", upstream, to combat discrimination affecting women's careers. In addition, the 2023 pension reform has not "made substantial changes to family pension rights", note the auditors, who therefore plead for a "reset" of compensation mechanisms, to make them more effective and more readable, "with a lower cost for the community".