Tuesday 30th October 2007
Women not only suffer from the pay gap, but are also subject to the pension gap, new research from Scottish Widows has shown.
More than one in three women of working age (35 per cent) do not have a pension scheme, compared to 22 per cent of men, and employers also contribute less to female staff's pensions (as a percentage of salary) than they do to men's, the survey revealed.
Over half (54 per cent) of men were found to be saving enough for retirement, compared to just 41 per cent of women, and this pension gap is growing, Scottish Widows found - in five per cent more men met the pension target in 2007 than did in 2006, while the number of women doing so stayed static.
Ian Naismith, head of pensions market development at Scottish Widows, commented: "It has widely been reported that women are disadvantaged in the labour market in terms of earnings - what this report reveals is that as well as earning less, women are saving less for their futures than men.
"And even the women that are saving in a pensions are saving a smaller percentage of what they earn - effectively compounding the effect of the pay gap, and making the gender 'pensions gap' even wider."
Mr Naismith added: "The outlook for women's pensions continues to be bleak. Their working patterns are unlikely to change in the near future and they're much more likely to stay at home and look after their children than men.
"We all have the problem that we don't prepare enough for our futures but women need to realise that it's up to them to put plans in place for funding their retirement."
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