Pension gap hits women

THE good news is that more women are better prepared for their retirement than at any other time in the past 15 years.

But the bad news is that women are still way behind men when it comes to pension savings, according to a report.

The gender pay gap means that men benefit from an average additional £78,000 in their pension pot.

Just over half of women are deemed to be saving adequately for their older age, compared to three in five men, a survey of more than 5000 people by pensions firm Scottish Widows has found.

Saving adequately was defined in the report as putting away at least 12 per cent of your income into pensions.

Scottish Widows said that women on lower incomes are feeling the pinch the most and are not saving enough.

Less than half of those earning between £10,000 and £20,000 are saving a sufficient amount.

More than a third have opted out of their pension scheme because they cannot afford to save, so are missing out on valuable employer contributions and tax relief.

Women in this lower income group are faced with too many demands on incomes, including paying for childcare. Seven in 10 face financial difficulties.

Jackie Leiper, distribution director at Scottish Widows, said: “We’ve come a long way, but 15 years later there’s still an unacceptable gap between men and women.

“The groups who are often overlooked, such as lowermiddle income women, need more support to overcome the challenges they face in saving for the future.

“Scottish Widows wants to see a series of reforms that allow for a more tailored approach to saving, including increased default savings levels.”