![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/20250804_women_pensions_graph_1.png\")
<\/p>\nTaking on more risk, boosting contributions and accessing benefits are possible actions to take. <\/p>\n
The average woman in the UK is set to retire with far less in their pension pot than men, with experts urging women to take matters into their own hands to close the savings gap.<\/p>\n
To catch up, women can increase the amount they save in the years they are working, by exploring their investment options and risk appetite and maximising auto-enrolment contributions.<\/p>\n
Recent research by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) found that the difference between the private pension wealth of men and women aged 55-59 was 48% between 2020 and 2022. The gender pension gap was smaller for younger people (22% for ages 25-29) but increased over time. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Separate 2024 research by Scottish Widows projected a 30% gender gap in retirement income overall, with 42% of women at risk of poverty in retirement compared to 35% of men.<\/p>\n
Gap in private pension assets between men and women<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Source: Scottish Widows, Frontier Economics analysis of the Wealth and Assets Survey, ONS<\/p>\n
The cause of this disparity can be boiled down to two simple facts: women are, on average, paid less than men and they work fewer hours across their working life, due to factors such as having children or being more likely to adopt the role of carer for family members.<\/p>\n
Lisa Picardo, chief business officer UK at PensionBee, said: \u201cThe DWP\u2019s latest figures reinforce what we already know: a significant disparity persists in women\u2019s retirement outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although experts acknowledged that high-level policy changes are required, they have also outlined steps women can take to bridge the gap.<\/p>\n
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Take more risk<\/p>\n
With decades until retirement, women need to adopt a higher risk appetite, Picardo explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cHigher-risk investments with potential for higher returns, such as equities, tend to generate more growth over the long term\u201d, she said. \u201cFor women in their 40s and 50s, this period is crucial for optimising pension savings and making strategic plans for retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n
This extends to auto-enrolment pension schemes.<\/p>\n
Sarah Pennells, consumer finance specialist at Royal London, urged women to check where their workplace pension is invested.<\/p>\n
Many workplace pension providers automatically \u201clifestyle\u201d a pension saver\u2019s investment mix as they approach retirement age, gradually shifting money from higher-risk, growth-focused investments like equities to lower-risk, more stable investments like bonds and cash.<\/p>\n
But this doesn\u2019t necessarily work for a woman looking to build her pension pot. \u201cMany women are in default funds that might not suit their goals,\u201d Pennells explained. \u201cA quick review could help their money work harder.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel Vahey, head of public policy at AJ Bell, said this doesn\u2019t mean women have to put their entire savings into global equity or private equity, however.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey may choose to keep some more cautiously in that default fund, but a percentage of their money can and should be used to get better results,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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Maxing out auto-enrolment contributions<\/p>\n
One crucial change a young woman can make upon entering the workforce is to immediately maximise pension contributions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe magic of compound growth works wonders over longer periods, making early contributions incredibly impactful,\u201d Picardo said. \u201cEven a small increase can have a significant impact on your future pension pot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Always check if an employer offers matched contributions, she added. \u201cThis is essentially \u2018free money\u2019 for an individual\u2019s pension and can help grow savings much faster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Employment rate for women 2003 to 2023<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/20250804_women_pensions_graph_2.png\")
<\/p>\n
Source: Scottish Widows, ONS, LMS<\/p>\n
Susan Hope, business development director at Scottish Widows, highlighted modelling research conducted by the pension provider based on an extra 1.15% extra pension contribution across a woman\u2019s working life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis would fully negate a woman taking a five-year break from work,\u201d she said. \u201cSo paying as little as 1% more when in full-time work will give women that breathing space to pause their career [when having children or for other reasons].\u201d<\/p>\n
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Getting to grips with the pension pot<\/p>\n
To understand how big their individual pension savings gap is, it\u2019s crucial that women map out what they currently have and how much they will need, experts agreed.<\/p>\n
This includes a state pension forecast to identify any potential gaps in their national insurance record, as you need to have worked 35 years to receive the full amount.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sooner women can plug any gaps, the better,\u201d said Camilla Esmund, senior manager focused on consumer campaigns, financial education and retail investment analysis at interactive investor (ii).<\/p>\n
In addition, Picardo pointed to the importance of checking child benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf a woman takes time out of work to care for children, even if they don\u2019t claim child benefit due to earning above the threshold, they can ensure they are registered to receive national insurance credits until their youngest child turns 12,\u201d Picardo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis protects their state pension entitlement, ensuring they can accumulate necessary qualifying years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Women must also think about the impact of annuities when doing their financial planning for retirement, according to Hope.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that over 80% of annuities bought are single life male,\u201d she said. \u201cWe then often have a situation where the male partner dies and the female partner had no idea that part of her income would then stop, because it hasn\u2019t been treated in a joint financial planning arena.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
High level change<\/p>\n
Ultimately, bringing about true gender equality across pension savings falls on the shoulders of the government.<\/p>\n
The experts called for the extension of auto-enrolment to younger workers and those in multiple part-time jobs, the recognition of unpaid caregiving by building greater awareness of the ability to claim national insurance credits, the introduction of flexible contributions that support people taking career breaks or returning to work, and better financial education for people at different life stages.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t keep putting the onus on individuals to fix a system that doesn\u2019t work for everyone,\u201d said Pennells. \u201cThe gender pension gap is real and it\u2019s significant.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taking on more risk, boosting contributions and accessing benefits are possible actions to take. The average woman in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[84,4176,4174,4175,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-44975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}