Systemic Barriers Create Stark Pension Disparity for Women
A comprehensive new study has issued a stark warning about the hidden systemic barriers that prevent women from adequately saving for later life, challenging long-held assumptions about financial confidence gaps. The research, supported by wealth management firm Evelyn Partners, reveals that women face disproportionate impacts from insufficient retirement savings due to structural inequalities rather than personal financial capability.
The Stark Numbers Behind the Gender Pension Gap
Government data paints a concerning picture of retirement wealth disparity. Men aged 59 hold a median average of £75,000 in defined contribution pension wealth, which represents the most common form of private workplace pension. In stark contrast, women of the same age possess just £19,000 – less than a third of their male counterparts' savings. This significant gap persists despite increasing awareness of gender inequality issues in financial planning.
Beyond Confidence: The Real Factors at Play
The report directly challenges the narrative that women's lower pension savings result from a supposed lack of financial confidence. Instead, researchers identified several interconnected systemic factors creating this disparity:
- The persistent gender pay gap that reduces women's earning potential throughout their careers
- Career breaks for child-rearing that interrupt continuous employment and pension contributions
- Increased likelihood of part-time employment arrangements
- Heavier burden of unpaid care responsibilities for family members
- Mental load and time scarcity that reduces capacity for long-term financial planning
Report author Emily Shipp, a psychologist and associate of the Edinburgh Futures Institute, explained: "The confidence gap narrative has masked the real systemic, situational and social factors that result in the pensions gulf. Women are more likely to carry the ongoing cognitive labour of anticipating and co-ordinating care, while also spending significantly more time on unpaid work."
Financial System Must Evolve to Address Changing Lives
As people live and work longer, often navigating multiple careers and care responsibilities, the financial system must adapt to prevent what researchers describe as a "pensions timebomb." The report argues that traditional financial advice and pensions policy have centered on typically male, linear career trajectories rather than the multi-phase, care-interrupted lives many women experience.
"Financial services often interpret women's behaviour as caution, risk aversion or low confidence," the report states. "When we place these behaviours in context, a new picture emerges that more meaningfully guides supportive actions."
Industry Response and Calls for Change
Emma Sterland, chief financial planning officer at Evelyn Partners, welcomed the report's insights: "Its thought-provoking insights challenge entrenched narratives around women and wealth, shining a light on the complex structural barriers that women face as they build their financial security over a lifetime."
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, emphasized that meaningful change requires helping women remain in the workforce through more flexible working practices, including remote work options and arrangements that better accommodate caring responsibilities.
The report concludes that redesigning pensions policy and financial environments to better serve varied life courses would benefit all genders as society moves toward longer, multi-phase lives. With defined contribution pensions placing more responsibility on individual savers, the need for systemic support becomes increasingly urgent to prevent financial disaster for a significant portion of the population.
