Developments in the equalization of treatment of men and women under social security in the Federal Republic of Germany.

The equal treatment of men and women under social security has been an issue of major interest in the Federal Republic of Germany for a number of years. Basically, the discussions have centered on three areas of social security: (1) Earnings sharing provisions between husband and wife for social security purposes; (2) equalization of treatment of survivors; and (3) gratuitous social security credits for parents during periods of child-rearing. Earnings sharing for both public and private pension plans has been in effect in Germany since 1977.1 The concept is based on the theory that pension entitlements acquired during a marriage should belong equally to both spouses. Thus, following a divorce, the divorced spouse with the lower pension on his or her own work record retains some rights to the higher pension of the other spouse. If the pensions were earned during the marriage, the amounts are equalized. In the first 5 years that these provisions were in operation (1977-82), transfers of pension rights occurred in some 272,000 cases. Legislation enacted July 15, 1985 ,* introduced major changes in the German social security law with further regard to the equalization of treatment of men and women. Under the new law, men and women are to receive equal treatment under the survivor pension program. This is distinct from, and in addition to, any provisions for earnings sharing between husband and wife for social security purposes as provided for in the previous legislation. To limit costs of providing an increased number of survivor’s pensions to widowers, there is an income test and an offset for those with high earnings or other public pensions. The recent legislation also provides gratuitous social security credits for parents who stop work during periods of child-rearing. Gratuitous, or complimentary, social