More than one in three women don’t have any private pension savings, a figure that is significantly higher than men, according to new research.
This survey, by Willis Owen, highlights the stark gender split in pension provision, despite the introduction of auto-enrolment in 2012.
These figures show that 34 per cent of women claim they don’t have a pension plan, compared to just 17 per cent of men.
Of these women without a pension, 41 per cent said they had no intention of starting one at all, while 17 per cent said they didn’t plan to start saving for retirement until their 40s. Almost one in 10 said they didn’t anticipate saving for retirement until their 50s.
In contrast just 13 per cent of men with out a pension said they would delay until 40, and just 4 per cent until the age of 50.
Women were also more reliant on the State Pension, and their partner’s pension to provide an income in retirement, when compared to men.
While many of those in employment now have access to workplace pensions, via auto-enrolment, there are concerns that minimum contribution levels are still below what is needed to provide an adequate retirement income.
As these contribution levels are based on a percentage of salary, women tend to invest far less into these workplace schemes as they earn less on average than men, and are more likely to be in part-time work. The survey shows that they are effectively being hit with a ‘double whammy’ of smaller workplace pensions, while being less likely to take out private pension savings.
The survey also showed that just over one in three people (35 per cent) claim to have stopped paying into a pension scheme over the past 12 months.
The main reason for this – as cited by 28 per cent of those who have stopped – is that they could no longer afford it. This is followed by one in five (20 per cent) who said they would rather use this money for other purposes, and 14 per cent would prefer to use it to help them on to the property ladder.
Willis Owen head of personal investing Adrian Lowcock says: “It’s understandable that people are opting to focus on their financial needs today, as opposed to financing their needs in retirement when they stop work.
“However, it’s alarming to see so many people without pension plans, or who have stopped paying into them.
“Not only are they missing out on generous tax benefits provided by saving into pension schemes, the reality for many of them is that they will never be able to stop work and enjoy a retirement. However, it’s never too late to own your financial future and start saving into a pension scheme.”
