Incompatibility of SOVI retirement pension and widow’s pension of the general regime, indirect discrimination and unacceptable and unjustified social security gender gap

Abstract

While the retirement pension under the General Regime is fully compati­ble with the widow’s pension under the same General Regime (with the only limit being the maximum pension), the SOVI retirement pension has a stricter compatibility regime with the widow’s pension under the General Regime. Given that the SOVI retirement pension is mainly received by women, while the General Regime retirement pension is mainly received by men, a situation of indirect discrimination on the basis of sex arises, which leads to a gender gap in social security. Given the limited effectiveness of a possible judicial solution, it would be neces­sary to intervene legislatively to eliminate this gap.