An unusual court decision has been made in the Valencian Community (Comunidad Valenciana): a pensioner who raised her granddaughter for many years in a family setting is now entitled to a gender gap pension supplement. This is the first case of its kind in the region, where the court sided with the grandmother, despite previous repeated rejections of her claim.
The pensioner had already received supplements for raising her own children, but she sought an additional payment for her granddaughter, whom she had taken in under her permanent care. The woman argued that her contribution to her granddaughter’s upbringing was no different from caring for her own children, and that the law should recognize such situations equally with biological or adopted relationships.
In 2022, her appeal for the payment was denied, and two years later, the court of first instance in Elche (Elche) upheld that decision. However, the region’s highest court has now reviewed the case and acknowledged that the grandmother’s efforts cannot be overlooked, especially as she took responsibility for the child when she was unable to formalize an adoption due to restrictions in the Civil Code.
Judges noted that the purpose of the supplement is to compensate for the impact of caregiving on women’s careers. Therefore, if a grandmother effectively fulfilled parental duties, she is entitled to the same support as other families. The case highlights that the woman looked after her granddaughter from 1995 until she retired in 2021.
The court’s decision also refers to the provisions of the law on the protection of minors, which requires that the rights of families who have taken children into guardianship be equated with those of other family forms. Now the pensioner is entitled to an additional payment, and the decision itself may be appealed to the Supreme Court of Spain (Tribunal Supremo).
