TRAPEZ: Transparent pension future – securing women’s economic independence in old age

About the project

The Gender Pay Gap, i.e. the differences between the average wages of women and men, in Austria, is quite high compared to the European average. Consequently, these differences are also reflected in pensions: on average, female old-age pensioners in Austria receive more than 38 percent less pension than men. Among newly awarded old-age pensions, this difference is on average as much as 42 percent. Especially because of high part-time employment, longer career breaks and industry-specific differences in earnings, female pensioners in Austria are at a significantly higher risk of poverty compared to their male counterparts.

This website presents research results from analyses and evaluations. It also answers frequently asked questions and provides helpful information for insured persons and companies.

The Directorate General for Women and Equality in the Austrian Federal Chancellery (since April 2025: Federal Ministry of Women, Science and Research) carried out the EU co-funded project "TRAPEZ – transparent pension future – securing women’s economic independence in old age" (“Transparente Pensionszukunft – Sicherung der ökonomischen Unabhängigkeit von Frauen im Alter”) from 1 February 2019 through 30 September 2020, in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry for Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection, the Austrian Ministry for Labour, the Austrian Institute for Economic Research WIFO and with the Working Life Research Centre FORBA. Also, the ABZ*AUSTRIA and SORA participated in TRAPEZ.
TRAPEZ aimed to conduct a thorough analysis of the Austrian Gender Gap in Pensions (GGP), and to highlight possible actions to reduce the GGP and improve women's economic security in old age.

Co-financed by the European Union Program for "Rights, Equality and Citizenship".