Retired women effectively go without a pension for 4.5 months (139 days) each year due to a 37.9 per cent income disparity compared to men, according to TUC.
According to TUC’s analysis of the gender pensions gap, the disparity is more than twice as large as the 14.3 per cent gender pay gap for working women. The TUC has named today “Gender Pensions Gap Day,” a day when women effectively stop getting their pension for the year.
According to research, this gap, which amounts to £7,000 annually, is driven largely by unpaid caring responsibilities, with women nearly five times more likely than men to be out of paid work for this reason.
The gap is most pronounced among women aged 25 to 34. Other contributing factors include the gender pay gap, gaps in pensions auto-enrolment that exclude many low-paid and part-time workers (predominantly women), and historical disparities in National Insurance contributions that have left women with lower state pensions.
The TUC is pressing the government to address the gender pension gap immediately. It recommends strengthening auto-enrolment for low-wage workers, addressing staffing shortages in social care and childcare, assuring universal high-quality childcare, and offering additional state pension contributions to people who provide unpaid caring services.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Far too many women are consigned to poverty in retirement. Everyone should have the chance to build up a pension, regardless of how much they earn. Ministers must set out a plan for closing the gender pensions gap – and fix our pensions system so that all women can benefit from a decent income in retirement.
“Women leaving paid work and taking on caring responsibilities is a key driver of the gender pensions gap – and the gender pay gap more generally. Women kept out of work for caring responsibilities should build up extra state pension to recognise the value of that work.
“Many women in work don’t get any sort of workplace pension at all because they don’t earn enough – often because of working part-time around caring commitments. We also need to tackle the care gap and give greater support to those with caring responsibilities.
“The new government’s plans to introduce day one rights to flexible working and parental rights will go some way to helping families share caring responsibilities. Women are often the ones expected to plug the gaps when our social care and childcare systems are not sufficient. Commitments to introducing a fair pay agreement in social care and reforming the childcare and early years sector will also help to tackle drivers of the pensions gap.”
