There are male pensioners in Spain who have been earning less than what they are entitled to by law for years. Not because their pensions are incorrectly calculated, but because Social Security denied them the maternity supplement to which the Court of Justice of the European Union recognized, in 2025, that they also have full rights. Labor lawyer Juan Manuel Lorente explains it in a video, in which he points out the three specific requirements that must be met to claim. “Social Security owes you a lot of money. They may owe it to you or even your father.”
The supplement for reducing the gender gap, regulated in article 60 of the General Social Security Law, is an additional amount to the contributory pension, of 35.90 euros per month per child (in 14 payments, with a maximum recognized for four children), which until now the administration recognized exclusively for women or conditioned men with additional requirements that they did not have to prove. The CJEU, in a ruling of May 15, 2025 in cases C-623/23 and C-626/23, declared these requirements contrary to the principle of equal treatment. The Supreme Court later confirmed the doctrine through a unifying ruling.
To access this requirement, the lawyer explains that you must meet three conditions, which are “being a man. Having had children. And having started collecting a pension, whether for widowhood, disability or retirement, between January 1, 2016 and May 15, 2025,” details the lawyer.
This date is like this, since as of May 15, 2025, the new recognitions now apply under equal conditions for both sexes, as explained by Alfonso Muñoz Cuenca, a Social Security official. But those who had a pension before that date and did not collect the supplement can now claim all the arrears accumulated since the beginning of the benefit (what in law is called the date of the causative event, that is, the day on which the right to the pension arose). For a male pensioner with two children who has been collecting his retirement pension for eight years without this supplement, the retroactive amount can exceed 6,000 euros.
“It is 30 euros more per month per child, since you started collecting the benefit, and an increase in the pension for life,” says Lorente. Once granted, the supplement is incorporated into the pension permanently and is revalued each year along with it according to the price index.
1,800 additional euros if Social Security does not respond or denies
The lawyer explains a second level of claim that the majority of those affected are unaware of. “In addition to what they owe you, you can take an extra 1,800 euros, in case Social Security is silent and does not respond to the request, or even denies it,” says Lorente. The amount is supported by firm jurisprudence.
The Supreme Court, in a Plenary ruling of November 15, 2023, established that men to whom the INSS had denied the supplement in a discriminatory manner have the right to compensation for damages of 1,800 euros, regardless of the arrears paid. This implies that if the administration remains silent regarding the request or issues a negative resolution, the pensioner can accumulate this compensation to the total amount of the arrears. “It could be a lot of money,” the lawyer concludes.
The claim can be processed at the Social Security electronic headquarters or in person at any Social Security Assistance and Information Center (CAISS) by appointment. Social Security has 90 days to resolve and if there is no response within that period, negative administrative silence operates, which opens judicial avenues to demand both the arrears of the supplement and the additional compensation set by the Supreme Court.