Pension Wealth and the Gender Wealth Gap

We examine the gender wealth gap with a focus on pension wealth and statutory pension rights. By taking into account employment characteristics of women and men, we are able and identify the extent to which the redistributive effect of pension rights reduces the gap. The empirical basis of this examination is the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), which is one of the few datasets where information on wealth as well as on pension entitlements is collected at the individual level. Pension wealth data is available for 2012 only. Individual level wealth data allows to analyze the gender wealth gap between women and men across all households. Due to the longitudinal character of the underlying data, detailed information on employment trajectories and family related events (such as childbirth, marriage, divorce, widowhood, etc.), which can have an effect on (public) pension entitlements are considered.