The Genderedness of
Future Pensions
"The genderedness of future pensions in Germany and Israel" is a comparative research project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). This project investigates the persistent gender gaps in pension systems through a comprehensive study of Germany and Israel.
Focusing on Generation Y women, born 1980-1990, particularly mothers from diverse social backgrounds, NURA explores how women understand and respond to pension norms. By examining institutional structures, cultural expectations, and life-course decisions, the study sheds light on how welfare systems shape women's financial futures.
Research Background
Despite increased labor-market participation of women and significant pension system reforms, gender inequalities in pensions persist worldwide. The NURa project examines why pension systems continue to produce these inequalities, even in societies where women's workforce participation has grown substantially.
Our research is built on the understanding that to comprehend future gender pension gaps, we must examine what we call the "triangle of future pensions" composed of three interlinked dimensions:
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The life-course norms embedded in current pension systems.
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People's understanding of these norms.
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The translation of this understanding into concrete choices regarding pension-relevant factors.
Research Focus
While pension reforms in recent decades have aimed to promote individual responsibility and gender equality, they often rely on life-course patterns that still reflect traditional male employment trajectories. These systems may disadvantage women—especially mothers—who take on caregiving responsibilities or work part-time.
Our study focuses specifically on women from Generation Y, who are currently at the peak of their pension-building years. To reflect social inequalities and gendered poverty risks, we address both poverty-preventing pensions and those meant to maintain living standards. We include mothers from varied social groups and familial statuses.
Research Methods
The NURa project employs a mixed-methods approach:
Institutional analysis
To comprehend the current life-course norms of pension systems and expected challenges for mothers, applying the SCQUal method
Quantitative analysis
To identify, for Generation Y, the life-course related starting point of gendered pensions, the kind and degree of the genderedness, and the differences between women of different backgrounds and family statuses
Semi-structured interviews
To determine how, why, and to what extent women understand and respond to old-age risks differently than expected
Why Germany and Israel?
Germany and Israel offer a valuable comparative case study because:
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Their institutional pension structures differ significantly.
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Their social and cultural factors show similarities.
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Both countries have implemented pension reforms that emphasize individual responsibility.
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While Israel strongly supports a neo-liberal one-size-fits-all life-course norm, Germany added measures to reduce gender pension gaps caused by familial care supply, and it is under European legislation that forbid unfavourable calculation methods for old-age investments for women.
This comparison allows us to understand how women in different institutional contexts differ in their pension-related behavior and how closely these differences align with theoretical expectations based on institutional incentives and restrictions.
Project Leads
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Prof. Dr. Patricia Frericks - University of Kassel, Germany
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Prof. Dr. Anat Herbst-Debby - Bar-Ilan University, Israel
The collaboration partners bring complementary skills regarding the theoretical framework and methods used, combining macro and micro levels to comprehend the genderedness of current societies.
Funding
This research is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - German Research Foundation.
Expected Contributions
Expected Contributions
The NURa project will:
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Provide new insights into how women navigate pension systems in different institutional settings
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Contribute to welfare state research from various perspectives:
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Comparative understanding of these two countries.
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Gender perspective on social risks and pension marketization.
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Social inequality across different social groups.
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Methodological debates on social inequality.
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Offer policy-relevant knowledge on improving pension adequacy for women.
NURa Team
The NURa project team is a dedicated international research group from Germany and Israel, bringing together a wealth of expertise and a shared passion for social science research.
Led by Principal Investigators Prof. Anat Herbst-Debby and Prof. Patricia Frericks, our team combines deep knowledge in gender studies, welfare policy, sociology, and economics. Our collaborative research focuses on critical contemporary issues, including social inequality, old-age security, family policy, and mechanisms of social exclusion. Comprised of seasoned academics, post-doctoral fellows, and doctoral students, our team is committed to producing insightful, comparative research that contributes to a deeper understanding of today's social challenges.
The PIs:
Anat Herbst-Debby
PI
Prof. Anat Herbst-Debby is an Associate Professor in the Gender Studies Program at Bar-Ilan University. Her research focuses on gender aspects of welfare policy, social security, old-age pensions, family change, motherhood, and adolescent employment. Integrating macro-level policy analysis with micro-level social processes, her work explores mechanisms of social exclusion and inequality. She leads and collaborates on international comparative studies and has published widely in leading academic journals. In recent years, she has received competitive research grants from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF) and the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Patricia Frericks
PI
Patricia Frericks is Professor of Sociology and Economy of the Welfare State at Kassel University, Germany. She was previously Professor of Social Policy at Helsinki University, Finland, and Assistant Professor of Social Structure Analysis at Hamburg University, Germany. She holds a PhD from Utrecht University, The Netherlands. Her research activities focus on comparative sociology, particularly on the institutionalization and transformation of European welfare states, social citizenship, and social inequality. She conducts theory-based empirical research in political and economic sociology with special emphasis on the further development of concepts and methods of comparative welfare state analysis.
The German Team Members:
Dr. Julia Höppner
RA
Julia Höppner is research associate in the German team of the NURa project and post-doctoral researcher at University of Kassel at the chair of Sociology and Economy of the Welfare State. She received her PhD from University of Bremen in 2014 and previously worked as a Post-Doc at University of Hamburg. In winter term 2023/24 she was interim professor for Social Policy and the Life Course at University of Bremen. Her research interests lie in comparative welfare state research, especially in the fields of pension and family policy, and in empirical research methods.
Johanna Barthel
RA
Johanna Barthel is research assistant in the German team of the NURa project and PhD student at University of Kassel at the chair of Sociology and Economy of the Welfare State. During her studies of sociology in Leipzig and Jena, she worked as a student assistant. She completed her Master's degree in sociology at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena with a thesis on subjective interpretations of women's participation in financial markets. Her research focuses on social and gender inequalities, particularly in wealth and old-age provision, as well as on connections between changes in the welfare state and financialisation.
The Israeli Team members:
DR Tali Noy Hindi
RA
Dr. Tali-Noy Hindi is a postdoctoral fellow at Project NURa, within the Gender Studies Program at Bar-Ilan University, and a research fellow in the Department of Public Policy at the University of Haifa. She holds a Ph.D. in Spatial Economics (Regional Studies) from the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. She also holds an M.A. in Public Policy from the Department of Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University and an M.B.A. from the School of Business Administration at the College of Management Academic Studies. Dr. Hindi’s research explores the intersections of social policy, public administration, and governance. Her work focuses particularly on disability policy and the effects of personalisation policies on welfare delivery systems. In addition, she specializes in regional socioeconomic development and models of Multi-Level Governance in public service provision. She served as academic advisor to the Advisory Team for Promoting Regionalism in Israel and the Regional Welfare Initiative led by the Ministry of Interior. She previously held the position of Director of Research at the
Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services.
DR Sinyal Athamneh
RA
Dr. Sinyal Athamneh holds a Ph.D. from the Gender Studies Program at Bar-Ilan University. Her research interests in gender, sociology of education, poverty, employment, and youth studies. In her studies, she examines the intergenerational transmission process between Palestinian mothers living in poverty in Israel and their daughters who work in precarious jobs during their high school studies. Additionally, she works on expanding the implementation of a poverty-aware approach among school counselors. In 2022, she was awarded a grant from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF) for post-doctoral fellows abroad. She completed her post-doctoral studies at the University of Sussex in England, in the School of Education and Social Work. Her research findings have been published in international journals.
Gali Alperstein
RA
Gali Alperstein is a research assistant in the Israeli team of the NURa project and a PhD student in Gender Studies at Bar-Ilan University. During her academic journey, she has focused on exploring social inequalities. Her research interests include gender, masculinity, poverty, and welfare policy. She completed her Master's thesis on policy approaches to treating male drug addicts in Bar-Ilan University. Her doctoral research examines debt enforcement policies for male offenders in Israel, with particular attention to the intersections of gender norms and economic marginalization.