The gender pensions gap is the difference in retirement income between men and women, where women have less pension savings in retirement than men. Could this be true for some of your employees? Or for you? According to the Department for Work and Pension the gender pensions gap in private pensions is a massive 35%. 1
Why? The most common reason for not saving more for retirement is the feeling that ‘I do not earn enough.’ It is the persistent gender pay gap that ultimately contributes to the pension gap. Royal London’s 2024 report on this issue noted lower female employment rates, women making up more of the part-time workforce and fewer women in leadership roles. 2
Fixing this problem will be complicated and although government policy changes can help, we all have a role to play. Employers can provide financial education for their employees and raise awareness of the gender pension gap. We need to educate people, particularly low earners and women, about the value and importance of pension participation and contributions. If you are concerned about your pension and planning for your financial future, the government backed website https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en provides help and guidance.
1 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gender-pensions-gap-in-private-pensions/the-gender-pensions-gap-in-private-pensions
2 https://www.royallondon.com/globalassets/docs/adviser/misc/o6pd0007-gender-pension-and-wealth-gap-report-2024.pdf?utm_id=Gender-pension-wealth-gap