Women are still facing retirement with substantially less saved in their pensions than men. Low pay is a major contributing factor to the gender pension gap as women often take part-time positions or become self-employed to manage family commitments.
On average, women earn about 16% less than men, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Time taken out of work to raise a family can also result in broken national insurance records, and years without putting any money into savings at all.
This week, the insurer Legal & General published research showing that women have lower pension pot sizes in every age bracket, with the situation “significantly deteriorating” as they approach retirement.
The research, based on data from 4 million L&G pension scheme members, found that the typical gender pension gap is 17% at the beginning of women’s careers and increases to 56% at retirement compared with men.
Meanwhile, the average L&G pension pot for a woman at retirement (£10,000) was found to be less than half that of a man (£21,000).
However, some women are…
