Neglecting our pension and retirement planning appears to be an almost universal fault these days, but women’s pensions are more likely to be ignored than men’s,  according to new facts from Scottish Widows.
With only 47% of women making adequate provision for their women’s pension, compared to 59% of men, the ‘pensions gender gap’ has grown by 3% in the past year, and is continuing to widen.
The reasons for it, however, remain the same.
Women tend to suffer from job insecurity more than men and 12% of women cite this as the reason for feeling discouraged at the prospect of paying into a pension plan.
For many women, other debts soak up any available disposable income that might otherwise have gone into a women’s pension.
Financial commitments to the family and to providing for children are listed as a drain on their finances by 24% of women, according to Scottish Widows.
Nonetheless, awareness of the need for a private women’s pension or company pension plan seems at a healthy level among women, with 65% of those in the 18-29 age group declaring that the basic state pension would be inadequate for a reasonable standard of living.
The basic state pension – even for those who qualify for the full rate – is only £95.25 per week, less than £5,000 per year.
A more gloomy picture emerges from Scottish Widows’ survey of those women who currently have no private pension plan – 44% of whom said they do not believe that they ever will set up a pension.
