Around 61 per cent of women believe maternity will adversely affect pension saving and this is a concern for over half of female employees.
The majority of women are afraid that maternity leave would have an impact on their pension funds, according to new research from the Pensions Management Institute (PMI).
The survey’s findings corroborate those of a recent DWP study, which revealed that by the time women reach age 55, they have saved a third less for private pensions than men do.
According to the PMI poll, 61 per cent of working women have taken a career break. Nearly all of these women have taken maternity leave, and of those who haven’t been at work in over a year, only 20 per cent have been gone for more than five years. As a result, 54 per cent of the women surveyed are concerned about how job pauses may affect their retirement.
Four out of ten (41 per cent) women, according to the study, are worried about how job disruptions would affect pension accrual. Nearly 60 per cent of working women have no alternative retirement savings, thus they will rely on their pension savings for the majority of their retirement income.
The average pension savings for working women who are aware of their pension savings is £23,959. Only 36 per cent of working women know how much they have saved in their pension. Only 4 per cent of female employees have accumulated pension funds of at least £55,000.
PMI president Sara Cook says: “This survey exposes the concerns of many women about their retirement prospects. Women continue to believe they will be penalised through their role as mothers, and far too many are concerned about facing a bleak retirement as a consequence of raising children.”
Cook adds: “The survey is clear that many women are very worried about how to combine the roles of motherhood and employee without suffering significantly in retirement. Nearly half of those surveyed believed that better childcare support would enable them to return to work – allowing them both to be more productive and to make better preparation for life when employment has ended.
“In Scandinavian countries, women do not suffer any loss of earnings as a consequence of maternity leave. It is disappointing that in 2023 women are still concerned about what they might have to sacrifice to bring up a family.
“If the root of the gender pensions gap is due to career breaks for women to bring up children, then at a societal level, the gender bias and widely held presumption that women should have the primary child-raising role needs to be addressed. This bias needs to be challenged so that both men and women have equal opportunity to care for their children without penalty.”