Austria's Childcare Pension Credits & Voluntary Pension Splitting (Kindererziehungszeiten / Pensionssplitting)

Since 1992, as part of Austria's Equal Treatment Package, the state pension system has credited up to 48 months per child (60 for multiple births) as insurance periods toward the pension of the parent — usually the mother — who primarily raises the child; since 2005, employed parents have also been able to apply for voluntary 'Pensionssplitting', transferring up to 50% of their annual pension credits to the partner doing most of the childcare during a child's first seven years. The scheme is run by Austria's Federal Ministry of Social Affairs and monitored jointly with the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB).

A monthly contribution base (€2,468.01 in 2026, indexed annually) is credited to the caregiving parent's pension account for each qualifying month; the voluntary splitting option must be applied for before the child's 10th birthday and can apply for up to 14 years.

The ÖGB estimates the childcare credits have produced an overall 8% pension increase for women since 1991; nonetheless, Austria's gender pension gap has only narrowed from about 45% in 1994 to 39.7% in 2025.

The page frames the scheme as a durable, decades-long mechanism that measurably raises women's pensions, but notes it has not closed the still-large gender pension gap, since it does not address the underlying gender pay and working-hours gaps that drive most of the disparity; unions are calling instead for higher wages in female-dominated sectors and expanded childcare access.