The retirement income gender gap has widened, despite July marking the highest figure on record for women.
With an average of £14,450 for expected income, female retirees are £150 better off than in 2015, according to Prudential’s Class of 2016 survey.
In spite of the rise in income, the retirement earnings gap has widened by 27 per cent between men and women, with male retirees expected to reap an average £19,850 from their pension pots.
Time taken out of work due to maternity leave and childcare needs have been flagged as possible sources for the chasm.
However, Kirsty Anderson, retirement income specialist at Prudential, said, “While the gender gap is still here, there are definitely things women can do to take control of what [they] might get back in the future.”
“It is really good to understand what options are available to you but, more importantly, to start planning ahead,” she added.
For women who stop work – and in turn temporarily cease to make national insurance payments – Ms Anderson suggested that making voluntary additional national insurance contributions “make a difference” to what female pensioners can receive from the state.
News of this year’s prospects for female retirees comes a year after a substantial narrowing of the retirement income gender gap, when there was a difference of almost £2,000 between the figures for 2014 and 2015.
Ms Anderson attributes the backwards step to the overall gender pay gap in society, as well as other factors.
“We have got a new state pension, as well as the fact that some women may have found themselves being caught by the change to their state pension age, so that could be contributing to why the gap has widened a little bit this year,” she said.
kuba.shandbaptiste@ft.com
