With an evident rise of female labor participation in the UAE a notably higher number of Emirati women are registered with the General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA), constituting 66.7% of Emirati female contributors, announced the GPSSA in celebration of Emirati Women's Day.

According to latest statistics, a total of 93,895 Emirati females are currently registered with the GPSSA in comparison to 46,985 males, with 25,036 females employed in the federal sector in comparison to 10,583 males; 18,082 females employed in the government sector in comparison to 17,078 males and 50,777 females in the private sector in comparison to 19,324 males.

To further reinforce and support the role of an Emirati women in society, the GPSSA introduced various legislations in the pension and social security schemes such as the UAE Federal Law No. (7) of 1999 which grants females ten years of legal service while males are only allowed five, with a pension increase of 2% upon retirement, given that she has worked for a period of no less than 20 years.

Despite the fact that the law does not permit merging two pension schemes from the GPSSA or merging pension and an insured's salary, the law does permit a widow to merge her own pension to that of her husbands, or combine her work salary to that of her husband's pension share.

The 1999 law also ensures that pension shares are equally distributed to both genders, since pension is not considered a legal inheritance, thus emphasizes the importance of offering a daughter a pension share equal to that of her brothers.

A son does not receive pension upon reaching the age of 21, while a daughter continues to receive a pension amount as long as she meets the eligibility criteria's (i.e. is unemployed, not married, divorced or widowed). Once and if a mother, daughter or a sister are unemployed, divorced or widowed, the pension share that was once suspended by the GPSSA is repaid fairly, similar to the shares received by the other beneficiaries. 

As per the UAE Federal Law no. (57) of 2023, insured females, whether married, divorced or widowed, are entitled to receiving a pension if their employment period has ended upon their request, or if they contributed with the GPSSA for 30 years and reached the age of 55.

The 2023 federal law offers mothers different conditions regarding minimum contribution years and the pension entitlement age, with a reduction of two years in the contribution period and three years less in age for each of the 5th and 6th child; 3.5 years for the contribution period and four years for a female or a mother with a 7th child.

On the other hand, the 2023 law allows women to participate for a maximum of three years for those who wish to apply for a leave in order to care for their children, while continuing to pay the contributions due during this period, since it is still considered part of the contribution period when calculating her end-of-service period.

The law re-distributes pension rates to those entitled to it by raising a widow's entitlement share to 40% of the pension in order to support her children, with male and female children entitled to 40% of the pension amount, while the father or mother, or both, are entitled to 20% of the pension share. 

As the new distribution share showcases, a widow's pension share has increased given her responsibilities as a breadwinner after the decease of her husband. Additionally, the law preserves a widow's right to merge her pension share to that of her husbands, or to combine her husband's share with her work salary.

General Pension & Social Security Authority