Iran tightens pension rules, limits women's early retirement

The new pension law, passed under the administration of Masoud Pezeshkian, has tightened restrictions on women in Iran and Eastern Kurdistan, depriving them of the early retirement rights they had long struggled to secure. 

Following what has been termed "recent reforms" in the social system, the conditions for early retirement for working women in Iran and Eastern Kurdistan have become stricter and clearer.

According to the new law, which took effect on July 25, 2024, the retirement process has become more complex due to changes in age, experience, and service duration requirements.

According to Article 76 of the Social Welfare Law and the new regulations, early retirement for women is now limited to the ages of 45, 42, and 55, with each option accompanied by stringent conditions and additional procedures that delay retirement and increase pressure on working women.

 First Condition: Retirement at Age 45

 Under the previous law, female government employees could retire at age 45 after 24 years of service. However, under the new law, a woman who reaches this age but has not completed 30 years and 10 months of service is no longer eligible for retirement.

Second Condition: Retirement at Age 42

 According to the new law, women can retire at age 42 only if they have completed 20 years and 8 months of service, whereas previously, the minimum requirement was 18 years.

Third Condition: Retirement at Age 55

 Despite increasing restrictions on women in recent years, women were previously able to retire at age 55 after 20 years of service, as per Article 111 of the Social Welfare Law. However, the new law has increased the required years of service and reduced the minimum pension wages.

Attack on the Gender Basis of Economic Security

 These policy changes, implemented under the guise of "reform," are part of a broader strategy of systematic discrimination against women in the labor market and social system in East Kurdistan and Iran. Instead of alleviating the economic burdens on female employees and workers, the Iranian government has intensified restrictions, depriving many women of the early retirement rights they fought for over the years.

a.k

ANHA