The family dimension of statutory pensions in a changing social context : a study on the solidarisation of an asymmetric division between care and labour.

It is common within a couple for one of the partners to reduce their working hours in order to be able to focus on care tasks within the household. From a pension law perspective, this is problematic. The partner who works less and takes on more care tasks, accrues less pension rights and risks becoming dependent on his or her partner. It is not only the retirement pension that is built up differently. There are also consequences in case of divorce or death. There are various methods to compensate (or not) an unequal division between care and labour. This research aims to investigate in which way and according to which logics the accumulation and distribution of rights to statutory pensions can be organised. For this purpose, a theoretical framework is set up from which the concrete meaning and scope of the different pension logics must emerge. The legal literature distinguishes three possible logics in compensation mechanisms: individualisation, intra-family solidarity or inter-family solidarity. On the basis of this elaborated theoretical framework, a comparative analysis is made between Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. In the final phase of the research, it is examined with which logic the various compensation mechanisms of the countries studied are (most) in line. Classification criteria are drawn up for this. Each compensation system will be tested against these criteria. This classification must ultimately ensure that it becomes clear how the different logics, and underlying compensation systems, (can) interact with each other.