Equal status for married and unmarried is costly

There are currently no plans to introduce further changes to the difference in pension payments for married and unmarried pensioners.

This is the crux of the reply from the social affairs minister to MP Kári P. Højgaard, who enquired into efforts to balance out the social inequalities between married and unmarried couples.

Mr Højgaard also wanted to know how much it would cost to adjust the system so that all pensioners were paid as individuals. He said that a consequence of this inequality could be that people will be discouraged from marrying because the current law favours unmarried couples.

With the current law, married couples generally receive lower pension payments than unmarried couples. A married couple’s annual state pension allowance is DKK 3,825 lower than that of an unmarried couple.

Figures from the Ministry of Social Affairs reveal that it would cost at least DKK 80 million per year to place state pension payments to married and unmarried couples on an equal basis.

The Minister of Social Affairs, Eyðgunn Samuelsen, said that unmarried pensioners who live together are not always at an advantage. According to the law on sickness benefits, for instance, if a person becomes seriously ill, the married spouse may be entitled to sick pay. Another example, she said, is people with children under the age of 18 who become a widow or a widower. In such cases a married person is significantly better insured.

Samuelsen added that pensioners who live alone are generally worse off financially than cohabiting pensioners.

“Figures from Statistics Faroe Islands show that almost two-thirds of old age pensioners who live alone are at risk of poverty, while old age pensioners who do not live alone are no more likely to live in poverty than the rest of the population,” she said.

The minister added that if the government is to earmark DKK 80m to pensioners, this money ought to be prioritised for pensioners who struggle financially, regardless of

whether they live with their married spouse, with their unmarried partner or whether they live alone.

Translated by prosa.fo.