The demographic contribution supplement: legal nonsense of incessant judicial conflict even after its repeal ("not dead")

Regarding the Rulings of the High Court of Justice of Cantabria 749/2022, of 31 October, and of Extremadura 733/2022, of 31 October

Abstract

The introduction into the Spanish public pension system of the maternity supplement for demographic contribution to Social Security (art. 60 General Social Security Act, in the 2015 version) was a serious error of legislative technique, with high social and economic costs. Declared discriminatory against men by the Court of Justice of the European Union (December 2019), the excessive delay for its mandatory legal reform (RDL 3/2021, February 2) increased the imbalances. The application by the social courts did not improve the coherence of the institution, on the contrary, they have made it more irrational. Therefore, the repeal of this legal regulation has not prevented enormous judicial conflict, with tens of thousands of matters pending to be resolved, many of them in the Supreme Court. Administrative management has not facilitated its rationalization either. The resistance of the managing entity to comply with the jurisdictional dictates, although debatable, has created additional problems, including the order to pay compensation for moral damages. This commentary will analyze the most recent judicial decisions on the matter, in the context of a new legal reform of the supplement to reduce the gender gap.