Ireland: Should women forced to quit receive a pension?
The government’s upcoming Green Paper on pensionswill examine whether women who lost their pension after they wereforced to leave work should be entitled to a state pension.
Underthe marriage bar, which was abolished in 1973, women working in thepublic and civil service had to resign as soon as they married. Many ofthese women lost their cover under the social welfare system when theyleft work, and either did not qualify for a state pension when theyretired, or only qualified for a smaller state pension. ‘‘Womenhave been atrociously discriminated against in pensions over theyears,” said Pensions Ombudsman Paul Kenny. ‘‘Women were not justforced to leave jobs in the civil and public service because of themarriage bar; they were also expected to leave jobs in semi-statecompanies.