Facts
Gertrude Forster, born in 1912, performed paid domestic work during her marriage and contributed to the OASIA from 1948. After her divorce in 1953, she worked as an employee at company G. until retirement age. The compensation fund granted her, with effect from April 1, 1974, a simple old-age pension of CHF 750.- per month, based on an average annual income of CHF 25,800.- over 26 years (pension scale 25). Ms. Forster appealed against this decision, requesting that the contributions of her ex-husband during the years of marriage 1948-1953 be taken into account for the calculation of her pension.Considerations
1. The calculation of the simple old-age pension of a married or divorced woman follows the same rules as for single insured persons, except that the years during which the woman did not contribute due to her status as a housewife or unpaid collaborator in her husband's business are counted as contribution years (Art. 29bis para. 2 OASIA). 2. The law does not provide that the simple old-age pension of a divorced woman can be calculated based on the contributions of her ex-husband or her own contributions, whichever is more favorable (as is the case for the widow's pension, Art. 33 para. 3 OASIA). 3. In order to prevent the average annual income and thus the amount of the simple old-age pension from being reduced due to the low income of a woman who has worked part-time during her marriage, the Federal Insurance Court proposes an alternative calculation method: - Variant I: the total income is divided by the total number of insurance years - Variant II: the income before the marriage, or before and after the marriage for divorced women, is divided by the corresponding number of contribution years The most favorable pension for the insured person is then…