More than a third of women over the age of 50 have no private pension to help fund their retirement – compared with a fifth of men, according to research.
A study of 3,000 over-50s by Sunlife in May found women were more fearful about their pension provision, with 35 per cent admitting they do not have a private pension to fall back on, compared with 20 per cent of men.
Just 13 per cent of women in this age bracket said they are confident they will have enough money in their pension to get them through retirement, while a third (36 per cent) believed they will not have sufficient funds.
Almost a third (27 per cent) of all the over 50s surveyed said they hoped their partner or spouses’ pension will help fund their retirement, rising to 30 per cent among women.
Meanwhile, 12 per cent of the respondents planned to continue to work to provide an income, while 11 per cent were expecting an inheritance.
Simon Stanney, equity release marketing director at SunLife, said: “Our research reveals that one in five over 50s don’t have private pensions and that many over 50s are worried about being able to fund their retirement.
“But we can also see that one in five have realised the value of their home could help bolster their pensions, either by downsizing or equity release."
According to the study, homeowners over 50 have seen the value of their properties increase by £135,000 on average over the last 25 years, with 20 per cent of those polled planning to use the equity to fund their retirement, while 14 per cent said they would downsize, and 6 per cent planned to use equity release.
Tracey Lucas, director at Premier Equity Release, said: “I’m not at all surprised by these findings. Things may change in the future, but even then there is still this attitude that women will stay home and bring up the children, and therefore not save enough into their pensions.
“And then, of course, there are many people who don’t believe in pensions full stop, which is an issue for the pensions industry to tackle."
