On gender pension gaps

In the UK pension gap between men and women continues to grow (click here). The gap, that is common in most countries can be explained, in part, to the career break taken by many women to have children. Giving the fact that early childhood development is fundamental for the short and long term well being of children, it seems that to narrow the gap in the pension of women vs. men. States should find policies that support women in its double role, as mothers and workers. Longer maternity leaves programs (that respect full entitlement to benefits) is one policy that has been used recently in several cases, but there are others. For example the flexibilization of the labor market, i.e. allow for part time work, home based work, and others schemes, can be another solution, specially in Latin American countries which have highly inflexible labor markets. By the way, in an article published in Well Being and Social Policy the Journal of the CISS, the authors show that the design of reformed pension systems in Mexico and Chile favored women in relative terms to men.