Knesset's Finance Committee approved: The retirement age for women will be raised from 62 to 65

The Knesset's Finance Committee approved the law to reduce gender gaps in the labor market and raise the retirement age for women. Under the bill, the retirement age for women from age 62 to age 65 will be raised, over 11 years. The committee has approved a number of tools to make it easier for women to integrate into the labor market or reduce harm. The total cost will amount to about NIS 1 billion.
The following are the various measures set forth in the law that will enter into force in January 2022 and were approved by the committee and the Knesset members who dealt with the issue, in order to prevent harm to women against the background of raising the retirement age:
Doubling the supplement to the work grant - A work grant is an income supplement paid by the Tax Authority to employees and the self-employed whose income is low. The purpose of the grant is to incentivize labor market participation, support low-income workers and reduce socio-economic disparities.
Raising the retirement age of women may have a negative effect on older women seeking to enter the labor market, in order to provide appropriate solutions for these women, the law provides, along with additional measures, to increase the amount of the work grant and expand the grant-eligible income range for women aged 67-60.
The total cost of expanding the grant as approved by the government was NIS 130 million, and the agreement with the Knesset members doubled the budget for this step and set it at NIS 260 million.
Extension of unemployment benefits - The maximum entitlement period for receiving unemployment benefits for women over the age of 60 will be extended by 125 days from 175 days to 300 days, in order to allow women to advance their retirement period without being harmed financially. The agreement with the Knesset members also stipulates that a woman who leaves the labor market before the age of 60, aged 57 and over, will receive 7 months of unemployment benefits, similar to any person who leaves the labor market, for another 5 months with a ceiling of up to NIS 4,000 per month.
In order to address other population groups that may be harmed, a grant will be given in addition to raising the retirement age by up to NIS 4,000 for women who are not working and are not on their own initiative, between the ages of 62 and 62 and 4 months. , In order to exercise their right, and also that they can exhaust it up to two years after meeting its conditions.
Increasing the disability benefit for women over retirement age - from the current NIS 6,000 to NIS 7,750. Assistance for income support recipients - in the amount of NIS 700 per month for a period of up to 18 months for women who reach the age of 62 in the coming years.
Women over the age of 62 who have been denied entitlement to an old-age pension in view of raising the retirement age will be entitled in the next 4 years to some of the benefits associated with the pension: discount on electricity, water, medicines, property taxes and transportation. As part of the state budget, NIS 82.5 million will be allocated each year to finance vocational training for women aged 50 to 67.
It is also stipulated that for control and monitoring every year starting in 2023, a report will be submitted to the Finance Committee, the Committee on the Status of Women and the Gender Equality Committee in the Knesset, detailing the effect of the change in retirement age on women whose retirement age has been postponed. These women receive pensions paid by the National Insurance Institute, as well as professional training, and the extent of women's participation in the labor market after participating in training, as well as data on changes in the poverty index for women of relevant ages, and other data. annual.
In addition, it was agreed that within the framework of a parallel government decision, significant tools and budgets will be provided for vocational training for women of the relevant ages. In addition, it was agreed that information regarding the grant and the filing of claims under the law would be available in Hebrew, Arabic, Amharic and Russian. In addition, it was determined that the rule of law will also apply to independence, with the exception of the unemployment benefit chapter, which is not relevant to this sector.
The committee's chairman, MK Alex Kushnir: "Thank you very much to everyone for the really hard work. The Knesset members who started before the first reading and those who joined after, had a hard job here, and we have reached an outline that can really protect women who may be harmed by raising the retirement age. To everyone who took part. "