The is set to approve a decree-law expanding widow's pension eligibility for cohabiting couples with children. Under the new rules, these partners no longer require marriage or formal registration as a domestic partnership to qualify.
To access benefits, couples must prove two years of uninterrupted cohabitation via a census certificate. This reform modifies Article 221 of the General Social Security Law, creating a one-year window for beneficiaries of past deaths to apply for the pension.
The measure aims to equate cohabiting parents with married couples. While registered partnerships without children still require five years of cohabitation, the decree also allows those divorced before 2008 to supplement pensions with other public benefits.