Care, retirement pension and gender perspective

Abstract

The ruling of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands/Las Palmas 186/2021, of February 17, and its dissenting vote, which includes a question for a preliminary ruling before the Court of Justice of the European Union, is analyzed. The court dismissed the lawsuit filed by a female worker regarding retirement, due to non-compliance with the requirement of specific deficiency despite having more than 15 years of contributions. The connectivity between the imputed «withdrawal» from the labor market and the upbringing of her three young children was not taken into account. The current wording of article 205.1 b) of the General Social Security Law is suspected of (indirectly) discriminating against women, as it does not take into account the time spent caring for them when calculating the specific qualifying period required to qualify for a contributory retirement pension. This, in turn, could be contrary to article 4.1 of Council Directive 79/7/EEC, which is why the chamber had to refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling.