There are many reasons why women are at a higher risk of poverty in old age:
Pay for comparable jobs (gender pay gap)
More jobs in lower-skilled professions
Interrupted employment biographies due to pregnancy, raising children or caring for relatives
More frequent part-time work as a result, fewer opportunities to advance to management positions or pursue well-paid careers
As a result, women not only receive lower pensions on average than men (gender pension gap) due to significantly lower contributions to statutory pension systems, but also need financial resources for longer in old age due to their longer life expectancy. In addition, due to their longer life expectancy, they are at a higher risk of being left to fend for themselves in old age.
In view of the tight labour market situation in the ITC sector (149,000 unfilled vacancies*), we expect the “war for female talents” to emerge as a special dimension in the “war for talents”. Because there will be no other way to fill the vacancies – even with the inclusion of an increasing number of non-German-speaking team members.
Against this backdrop, it could make sense to position yourself today as an attractive employer, especially for women. There are numerous approaches to this, but it is not our task to comment on them here.
With regard to company pension schemes, however, a company could consider providing special support for women and, for example, paying the entire gross premium as an employer subsidy for a limited period during the aforementioned periods of absence. This would have to be regulated in a gender-neutral way for reasons of discrimination, in the knowledge that women benefit disproportionately from such a regulation:
Parental leave is taken
73.9% of women, 26.1% of men
The length of parental leave requested is
14.6 months for women
For men at 3.6 months**
* Figures Dec. 2023, source Bitkom 4/2024
** Figures 2022, source Statista 3.4.2023
