Social Security allows women who have been mothers to add contribution days, up to a maximum of 5 years, to their working life, so that their retirement pension is not affected, even if they did not work during the period after giving birth. This is possible thanks to fictitious contributions, which are periods in which contributions were not made due to work inactivity, but which Social Security also recognizes for the calculation of the retirement pension.
Fictitious contributions are regulated in article 235 of the General Social Security Law (LGSS) and they can be used to access the retirement pension, that is, to comply with the generic deficiency or the specific deficiency. They can also be used to improve your amount or avoid delays in the ordinary retirement age (remember that in Spain there are two ordinary ages depending on the years of contributions).
Fictitious childbirth quotes
Women can add up to 112 days of contributions for each childbirth, even if they have not worked during that time. In the event that the birth was multiple, 14 more days may be added for each additional child after the second, as regulated in article 235 of the LGSS.
However, this only applies if during the 16 weeks after giving birth you did not actually contribute to Social Security, that is, if you did not take maternity leave with a valid contract.
The latter has the support of the Supreme Court, which in its ruling STS 1173/2023, of December 19, emphasizes that the objective is not to improve the contribution career of those who were already working, but to compensate those who were forced to interrupt it for reasons linked to pregnancy and childbirth. What’s more, even if the birth occurred outside of Spain or if the fetus did not acquire civil personality, this right can be recognized if the pregnancy exceeded 180 days, according to management criterion 24/2017 of the INSS.
Fictitious childcare contributions
Women can also add fictitious contributions for caring for children or minors, which allows them to add up to 270 days of contributions per child (approximately 9 months) if there was a work interruption after the birth or adoption. This period covers from nine months before to six years after the birth or judicial adoption decision.
Now, only one parent can benefit, and the mother is prioritized unless she expressly renounces it. The objective is to facilitate access to ordinary retirement at age 65 or even reach the minimum 15 years required to retire with a contributory pension.
Both measures (childbirth and care) are compatible, but they cannot exceed 1,825 days in total, that is, a maximum of five years of fictitious contributions.
Complement to reduce the gender gap
In addition, both mothers and fathers who have seen their careers affected by childcare may apply for the supplement to reduce the gender gap (formerly known as the maternity supplement), which increases the pension of those who have had children (up to a maximum of four). It is charged monthly (14 payments) and is calculated as a fixed amount per child. For this 2025, the amount is 35.90 euros per month for each son or daughter.
| Number of children | Monthly amount | Annual amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | €35.90 | €502.60 |
| 2 | €71.80 | €1,005.20 |
| 3 | €107.70 | €1,507.80 |
| 4 | €143.60 | €2,010.40 |
What about part-time working women?
Women who have worked part-time will contribute, for the purposes of fictitious childbirth contributions, as if they had worked full-time. That is, no reduction can be applied to those recognized days. This is established by the doctrine of the Constitutional Court (STC 91/2019 and STC 155/2021) and the Supreme Court (STS 689/2024, among others), which indicate that these are fully valid and computable days for the calculation of the waiting period, without it being appropriate to apply reducing coefficients.