The Government will once again modify the requirements of the gender gap supplement, better known as the child pension supplementthe “aid” that some pensioners receive with contributory pensions (both retirement, permanent disability or widowhood) following the latest rulings issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
Social Security already changed this supplement in 2021 (which also changed its name, since it was previously known as the maternity supplement), to comply with the ruling issued by this court in 2019. But after the ruling issued on May 15, 2025 (with number C-623/23 and C-626/23), which was considered discriminatory, since it was contrary to the principle of equality, Social Security had to issue a change in criteria 12/2025, can be consulted in this Social Security linkwith which it adapts its recognition to European regulations and eliminates the limitations that until now were imposed on men.
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Several retirees over 80 years of age speak clearly: “I never knew I was poor. We had little, but there was always someone who brought food to the table.”
Two retirees with a pension of 2,400 euros per month: “We don’t pay electricity, water or rent and we travel three or four times a year”
Now and as it advances Expansion, The executive will once again change the requirements to access this supplement, which will be accessible to workers whose working lives had to be paralyzed by childcare and this will affect their contributions and therefore their future pension.
What the ministry led by Elma Saiz now proposes is to change the requirements so that both men and women meet the same requirements. Remember that, until now, both men and women were recognized, but with the difference that men had to demonstrate an interruption or affectation in their professional career after the birth or adoption of children.
To access the gender gap supplement it will be necessary to prove contribution gaps
And what do you want to change now? Well, ask both women and men to prove contribution gaps. Contribution gaps are those periods in which it has not been possible to contribute, either due to loss of employment, for family or personal reasons or for contributing below the minimum due to a part-time contract, in this case, specifically, it is for childcare. These gaps could affect the pension, that is, both the regulatory base (taking into account the last 25 years) and the 100% percentage of said base, since the more years of contributions, the higher that percentage will be.
To carry it out, article 60 of the Social Security Law will be modified, which regulates the supplement for reducing the gender gap and which will eliminate any difference between the requirements for women and men. Thus, all people who, due to the care of children, would have had their pension affected could access it. The text states exactly “they will have the right to a financial supplement for each son or daughter, as long as their professional career has been affected by the birth or adoption,” it states. Expansion.
New requirements to access the child pension supplement
Now, it will be considered that the work career has been harmed when any of these three situations are met:
- Having been without contributions for more than 90 days in the period from pregnancy until the child turns six years old.
- That your total contributions for the two years following your birth are more than 10% lower than those of the two previous years.
- Or, before having the child you had never worked or you had less than 180 days of contributions accumulated.
Thus, these will be the three situations in which parents will be able to access the child pension supplement, now regardless of whether they are a man or a woman, since the same requirements will be requested, as required by the CJEU.
Let us remember that the current rule (which European justice has considered unfair) grants this extra money automatically to women with children who receive a pension, without asking them for anything else; On the other hand, men have an additional requirement: to receive it, they do have to demonstrate that their career was harmed and they suffered interruptions in their contributions due to children.
Amounts
As for the amounts, they will remain the same (without knowing how they will be revalued by 2026). That is, right now and until the remainder of 2025, it will be 35.90 euros for each child and up to a maximum of four, 143.60 euros, which will be collected in a total of fourteen annual payments. Furthermore, take into account in 2026 already the additional 10% revaluation does not applyincluded in Royal Decree 2/2023.
| 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 |
To take into account
Now, the key factor in deciding who gets the add-on is the amount of money each earns. If both parents request this help for the same child, the rule is clear and says that the money is allocated to whoever has the lowest pension. This is done to support those who have less income, so the supplement is only decided in favor of the woman (or man) if her pension is lower than that of her partner. Now, it is worth remembering that the Supreme Court has recognized the same complement to both parents in certain circumstances.
Regarding deadlines, the supplement is initially granted to the first person to request it and meet the requirements. Now, this is not definitive, since if later the other parent also requests it and shows that his pension is lower, the right changes hands and he collects it. In the unlikely event that both earn exactly the same, the benefit goes to whoever retired (or became disabled) first.
Finally, people who collect a widow’s pension also have the right to claim this extra money. In order for it to be granted, it is necessary that the deceased couple (who generated that widow’s pension) had at the time met the requirements of having had children and having suffered damages in their work career.
Retired women earn 30% less than men
If we look at the pockets of pensioners in Spain, the difference is obvious. In the most important and common pension, which is retirement, men have an advantage. An average retiree receives 1,726 euros per month, while a woman in the same situation receives 1,207 euros. We are talking about a difference of 30% which shows that, when it comes time to retire, they still have considerably less money than them.
Now, the script changes completely if we look at other types of aid. In widow’s pensions, just the opposite happens and it is women who earn more (because it depends on the regulatory basis of the deceased, that is, the man). They receive an average of 966 euros compared to 643 euros for widowed men, which represents a 50% difference in favor of women. They also lead aid for family members, while in orphan’s pensions there is practically a technical tie and both sexes receive about 520 or 530 euros.
To try to balance this balance that almost always leans in favor of men (who also earn 14% more in cases of disability), there is the so-called gender gap supplement. As of October 2025, this extra help already reaches almost 1.2 million people. As expected, the vast majority of those who need it are women (83% of the total), although there are nearly 200,000 men who also perceive it. This “plus” means, on average, about 75 euros more each month in the pensioner’s account.