The new pension and social security law no. 57 of 2023 introduces various benefits for employed mothers, widows and breadwinners
Abu Dhabi, 3 March 2023 – With 64% of insured females registered with the General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA), it was crucial to provide various benefits that help support the dual role working women play in serving society these days.
As per the new federal law no. 57 of 2023, women, regardless of their marital status (married, divorced or widowed), are entitled to a pension in the event that that their employment period has ended upon their request, or if the period of her participation in the insurance scheme was 30 years and her age reached 55.
Given the pivotal role a mother plays in caring and bringing up children, the minimum contribution period and the pension entitlement age for insured women who have children differs. This reduction includes two years for the contribution period (28 employment years) and three years less in age (52 years) for each of the 5th and 6th child; three and a half years for the contribution period (26.5 years of employment service), and four years for a 51 year old female or a mother with a 7th child.
On the other hand, the law allows women to participate for a maximum of three years for those who wish to apply for a leave in order to care for their children, while continuing to pay the contributions due during this period, since it is still considered part of the contribution period when calculating her end of service period.
The new law has re-distributed pension rates to those entitled to it by raising the widow/widows’ entitlement share to 40% of the pension; male and female children to 40% of the pension amount and a father or mother, or both, are to 20% of the pension share.
As the new distribution share showcases, a widow’s pension share has increased given that her responsibilities after the death of her husband increase as the sole breadwinner. Additionally, the new law preserves the widow’s right to merge her share of the pension due to her from her husband with her own personal pension, or to combine her husband’s share with her salary from work, in contrast to the general rule in the previous law which does not allow the insured to merge two pensions from the GPSSA.
