Widow's pension

A widow's pension is a payment from the government of a country to a person whose spouse has died.

Generally, such payments are made to a widow whose late spouse has fulfilled the country's requirements, including contribution, cohabitation, and length of marriage.^[1]

During the Progressive Era, there was a proliferation of laws introducing widows' pensions (generally called "mothers' pensions) at the state level.^[2]

At the federal level, the widow's pension was introduced in the Senate in 1930.^[3] It was not especially uncommon for young women in Arkansas to marry Confederate pensioners; in 1937 the state passed a law stating that women who married Civil War veterans would not be eligible for a widow's pension. The law was later changed in 1939 to state that widows born after 1870 were not eligible for pensions.

In 1899, Congress approved a payment of $11,750 of widow's pension owed to Harriet Tubman.^[1][4]

In the United Kingdom, the Widow’s Pension was discontinued in 2001.^[5] A widow's pension can be paid to childless widows aged 45 or over, or to those whose husband died before September 4, 2001.^[6]

When it was offered, for a woman to qualify, her husband had to have paid 25 flat-rate contributions before April 6, 1975.^[1]

In Israel in 2007, a court ruled that the female partner of a deceased lesbian was entitled to a widow's pension.^[5]

In New Zealand, a widow's pension was introduced in 1911 to help families with no other way of supporting themselves.^{[citation needed]}

In 1953, the Government of India launched the Widow Assistance Scheme. Under this scheme, a pension of ₹20 per month was provided to widows above 40 years of age.^[7]

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