Women’s pensions show £6,500 gender gap

19/05/11
Pensions

Pension incomes for women are still much lower than anticipated retirement incomes for men.

Women’s pensions are lagging behind men’s pensions.

Women retiring this year will receive a pension that is £6,500 lower than men, a Prudential survey has shown.

The financial services group found that women can expect an annual income of £12,900 where as men can expect to receive £19,400 in its Class of 2011 research – this equates to a 50% difference.

However, the retirement income gender gap has shrunk since last year when Prudential’s study showed a £7,400 discrepancy between male and female incomes.

Vince Smith-Hughes, Head of Business Development at Prudential said: “It is good news that average retirement incomes for women have risen, but unfortunately the gender gap remains stubbornly wide. There are a number of actions that women can take to help to boost their retirement income. For example, it is a good idea to maintain pension contributions during any career breaks and to explore making voluntary National Insurance contributions after returning to work”.

He added: “It is imperative for anyone looking to secure sufficient retirement income to start saving as much as they can, as early as they can and to seek professional financial advice in the run up to retirement”.

The largest retirement income gender gap was recorded in the South West of England where women expect to receive an annual £11,700 less than men.

The South East of England came out on top of the area rankings where anticipated retirement incomes for men and women are almost equal.