Baku, September 25, 2025
Under Azerbaijan’s pension law, a surviving spouse may receive the pension of their deceased partner instead of their own. But this right only applies once the individual has reached official retirement age. Dual payments are not allowed, forcing families to make a difficult choice.
This creates a painful gap for those who lose a pensioner spouse before reaching retirement themselves. Women between 55 and 65 who never held formal jobs are particularly vulnerable. When their husbands die, they lose their main source of income and are left with no safety net.
Parliamentarian Fazil Mustafa, speaking to Bizim.Media, has urged lawmakers to address the problem, stressing that widows should not be left without support after years of shared family life.
“We are talking about income earned during the couple’s joint life together. A woman also has rights to the funds accumulated by her working husband. A more balanced solution must be found,” Mustafa said.
He added that state agencies must consider the lived realities of citizens, not just legal technicalities:
“Officials should ask themselves how a widow is supposed to survive after her spouse’s death. Some form of assistance must be provided.”
Analysts note that the legal loophole leaves thousands in a precarious position, and argue that the issue requires urgent reform at the government and parliamentary level.
