Women paying less towards pension

Debts and children are causing women to lag behind men in terms of saving adequately towards retirement, research has shown.

According to life insurer Scottish Widows, only 47% of women save enough money for their old age, compared with 59% of men.

More than a quarter of women who could afford and need to pay into a pension are failing to do so, compared with just 15% of men in a similar position.

And women who are already contributing towards pension schemes pay less than men, with women belonging to defined contribution schemes contributing only £90 a month, while men pay £168. Women who have taken up private pensions schemes also pay around £184 per month, with men paying £331.

Nearly 30% women with a pension who have not yet retired think they need to save more, compared with 24% of men.

But women are failing to set aside the extra cash, and despite 31% of women questioned last year saying they intended to save more, only 16% have actually managed to do so.

One of the main barriers to women saving for retirement is children, with 24% of women with dependent children saying they had stopped saving into a pension or reduced their contributions, while 12% stopped saving altogether, compared with 7% of men.

Only 47% of women aged between 30 and 50 work full-time, compared with 82% of men.

Another barrier to women's saving is debt, with women owing an average of £12,156 in unsecured debt, £1,000 more than men.

The number of women who believe job insecurity and the economic outlook will prevent them from saving has also doubled during the past year, rising from 6% to 12%.

Ian Naismith, head of pensions market development at Scottish Widows, said: "During the economic downturn overall pensions savings have increased, but this is mainly among men and the gender gap has actually widened compared to last year.

"Although it is encouraging that women have the desire to put more aside for retirement, this doesn't seem to be translating into actual increased savings particularly and they also have more non-mortgage debt than men.

"Year-on-year our findings have exposed women as the pensions underdogs and in a climate when people need to be saving more than ever for their futures, it is worrying that women over 50 are actually saving less than previous years."

YouGov questioned 5,007 people during April.