Constitutional Court reduces the number of weeks of contributions required for women to qualify for old age pensions

On June 6, the Constitutional Court ruled on a lawsuit against Article 9 of Act 797 of 2003, which establishes as a requirement for women to contribute 1,300 weeks to access their old age pension.

The high court indicated that, although there have been advances in terms of reducing inequalities between men and women, they are insufficient, especially if we take into account the great difficulties, they face in accessing the labor market and assuming the obligations of taking care of the household.

The court added that the right to a pension must be applied in conditions that ensure that there is no direct or indirect discrimination between men and women, so taking into account the principles of equality and financial sustainability, it established a deadline of December 31, 2025 for the Congress of the Republic and the National Government to regulate the requirement of weeks for women, taking into account a gender approach and, especially, the condition of women heads of household.

However, the court established that if as of January 1, 2026, the legislature does not adopt a new regime, the contribution weeks must be gradually decreased, until reaching 1,000 weeks for women.

The gradual decrease ordered by the court, in case there is no regulation by the Congress, will be of 50 weeks in the year 2026 and as of January 1, 2027, it will be decreased by 25 weeks each year until reaching 1,000 weeks, as follows:

Therefore, it is determined that as of the year 2036 the requirements to access an old age pension will be notably different for men and women, both in age and in the minimum weeks required, with the requirements for men being 62 years of age plus 1,300 weeks of contributions and for women 57 years of age and 1,000 weeks of contributions. All the above, without detriment of the changes that may arise in terms of age and minimum weeks to access the old age pension that may be approved in the new pension reform.

With all the above, it is understood that the constitutional court is seeking that both the legislature and the executive adopt public pension policies that contribute to eliminate gender inequality without leaving aside the principle of financial sustainability of the system.