The government has a problem with women’s pensions.

The government is open to dialogue on pensions and, above all, possible changes to the Women’s Option, through weekly meetings from 8 February 2023. Will it really be possible to restore the old requirements of the pension advance for women? We asked Orietta Armiliato, founder and director of the Women’s Social Choice Committee (CODS), which continues to press the government to revert to the old measure designed for women, which has been distorted by recent changes.

Women’s option 2023, what has changed: new (stricter) requirements

The women’s option seemed untouchable, but it wasn’t. According to the union’s election promises, it had to become structured (there was even talk of a male option for 2023) and was replaced by stricter access requirements than in the past. How has the Women’s Option changed? First of all, access to early retirement can only be achieved in three categories:

• 74% disabled;
• caregivers;
• Employees of companies that were laid off or in crisis.

The 2023 Budget law also tightens the age requirement to 60, providing this with the possibility of a discount only for women with children (only layoffs/employees of companies in crisis can leave at 58 without child restriction). However, the 35-year contribution requirement remains the same. In 2022, early retirement was reached at age 58 (59 for self-employed women) with a 35-year contribution margin: these two requirements alone were sufficient.

At least 20,000 women were not given a pension advance

The new limits on women’s choice brought by the 2023 Budget Act significantly reduce women’s access to early retirement. The numbers say it all: The technical report on the maneuver mentions 2,900 female workers affected by this measure in 2023, but the costs could only be 870, according to CGIL’s calculations. With the Women’s Option, 23,812 pensions were paid in 2022 and 20,681 pensions in 2021.

“It’s like this measure has been lifted,” says Orietta Armiliato. Today It represents 11,000 women registered with the Committee and recalls that about 20,000 women from the Women’s Option ‘immigrate’. They have already taken to the streets on January 19 and will repeat on February 9, 2023, on the occasion of the meeting between the government and the social partners. “Even though they knew it was an advance that the women paid themselves, they forgone a third of the check with a recalculation of their contributions and cashed it with Option Donna without explaining why”.

In this regard, it is worth remembering that Women’s Option controls are quite low. More than half of those paid in 2022 do not reach 500 euros, 89% are not even 1,000 euros, while on average we are 754 euros for women against 1,440 euros for men for old-age pensions (INPS data).

Who are the ‘exodates’ from Option Donna?

This is the outline for women who want to go back to the old Option. They are women who started working at a very young age, lost their job while on maternity leave with an old mentality, and got it back a few years later. Or women who could not or did not want to have children and are currently 58 years old and have paid premiums for more than 35 years. More than 74% cannot consider leaving because they are not disabled, have no close relatives to care for (in most cases, in good health, even if they are old), and are not laid off/employees of companies in crisis. a fact by many other women in the same circumstances less than a month ago.

“It has never been seen that there is a requirement for children to access a discretionary pension,” says Armiliato, reminding that the children’s share “depends on the coefficients, hence the amounts, not on what is required to contribute.” The precautionary pension is based on children as a requirement for access”.

“Then there are women who are laid off at 55, too many, they are the first to be fired when the crisis hits. For them, there is nothing to make up for their pension in the pension system,” says the CODS founder. But what if the crisis desk was opened at Mise and only fired women were helped? “The cashier next to my house at Mise doesn’t have an open desk” and all the women who work in small businesses where our entrepreneurial fabric is rich.

Above all, it is women who are disappointed by the fact that it is a female prime minister who knows better than anyone the sacrifices women have to make to maintain their jobs, homes and families, and enforce these limits.

Attention turned to the meeting on February 7 in pensions

Labor Minister Marina Calderone knows all too well that the new Women’s Option is unpopular: “Some interventions, such as the Women’s Option, have not brought reconciliation, but maximum efforts are being made to find measures to revise certain passages of the law”. What can you expect? The Women’s Social Choice Committee is calling for a step back from the government, returning to the 58-year requirement without restrictions on manoeuvre. “Women don’t have a choice anymore, let’s extend it to the pension reform. We don’t want it to be structured right now because we think it’s a bit risky, there is a lot more to be defined. Armiliato stated that the issue will be discussed at the upper echelons of government,” he said. There is the Milleproroghe ordinance that will eventually expire, and then if we are not successful, the ad hoc will see that it will ask for the decree”.

Armiliato: “Resources are a very fragile alibi”

According to the founder and director of the Women’s Social Choice Committee, the limited availability of resources for expanding Women’s Choice is a “too fragile” excuse that is completely unbelievable. “I don’t want to take football out because I know the country needs them too, but there are resources for everything. 90 million euros are needed, not unattainable numbers.” In fact, for Option Donna 2023, the Meloni government has allocated only 21 billion euros, compared to the 111 million euros allocated by the Draghi government in 2022. “If it’s not a political or economic issue, I hope it’s not ideological, I hope we don’t want women to put off the welfare of the country. I understand that women want to retire to take care of their grandchildren. and elderly parents.” I want to do. I don’t have to leave to be a coachman,” concludes Armiliato.