Minimum old-age pension guarantee: changes for women according to the Constitutional Court´s Ruling C-054 of 2024

On 22 February 2024, the Constitutional Court issued a press release on the declaration of unconstitutionality in the judgment C-054 of 2024, which included changes to the requirements regarding the number of weeks needed for women to access the minimum old-age  pension guarantee.

For a correct understanding of the Court's decision, it is necessary to recall that the minimum old-age pension guarantee is the one that allows the contributor of the Individual Solidarity Savings Scheme to obtain an old-age economic benefit equivalent to a minimum salary, if during all the working life the insured person has not been able to accumulate the necessary capital to obtain a pension of the same amount, in which case, to be entitled to it, it is necessary to be 62 or 57 years of age, depending on whether it is a man or a woman, and, until the decision we are dealing with today, 1,150 weeks of contributions.

In its decision, the Constitutional Court explained the expression "and have contributed for at least 1,150 weeks" in Article 65 of Law 100 of 1993, which states that:

 "Article 65. Guaranteed minimum old-age pension. Insured persons who, at the age of 62 years for men and 57 years for women, have not been able to generate the minimum old-age pension referred to in Article 35 of this Law, and who have contributed at least 1,150 weeks, shall be entitled to have the National Government, in the development of the principle of solidarity, provide the missing part in order to obtain this pension".

Under the new standard established by the Constitutional Court, women affiliated to the Individual Solidarity Savings Scheme will be able to access the Minimum Guaranteed Old-age Pension when they reach the age of 57 and have at least 1,000 weeks of contributions to the General Pension Scheme.

Regarding this decision, it is important to highlight two points. The first is the reduction in the number of weeks required, which will only affect women and is due to several reasons. One of them is the need to adopt positive measures to compensate for the unfavourable conditions faced by women in the labour market. For this reason, the Court has defined that requiring the same number of weeks to access the guarantee, but having less time to pay contributions, is not compatible with the principle of equality, understood in the material or substantive sense that the Colombian Political Constitution of 1991 implies.

The Court warned that the decision would eventually result in a significant reduction in the capital of women's individual savings accounts and consequently an increase in the amount of subsidy that the Nation would have to assume in order to continue providing coverage for the economic benefit. The Tribunal has taken this into consideration and has requested the National Government to regulate this type of situation before 31 December 2025 and also to adopt affirmative measures in support of women.

The second point to highlight is that the decision to reduce the number of weeks required for the guarantee from 1,150 to 1,000 will not apply immediately.  The effects of the decision will only endure if, by 31 December 2025, the National Government has not regulated or adopted affirmative measures for the female population that will allow them to consolidate their right to recognition of the minimum old-age pension guarantee. In this event, from 1 January 2026, the minimum number of weeks required will be gradually reduced by 15 weeks each year until it reaches 1000 weeks, as explained in the next table:
 

Finally, we will explain the scope and implications of the ruling contained in the judicial decision in more detail once it is published.