Melissa Blissett, Senior Consultant - Pay Gap Analytics and Financial Wellbeing at Barnett Waddingham: “The Department for Work and Pensions' reveal of a 35% gender pensions gap seems stark, but in reality it is just the thin end of a much larger wedge. The headline figure is based on pension pot values, but if we look at women's life expectancy in the UK, which is higher than men's, we have a dangerous combination of a smaller pot size and more years to fund for. What’s more, our research has observed contributions from women dropping below men’s as time goes on, with men contributing £500-1500 more than women after their 30s.”
"Part of this issue is due to women doing the majority of unpaid household labour, and taking career breaks to bring up families. But we must dig deeper. The gender pay gap remains at 14.9%, highlighting a huge problem for women who are struggling to obtain higher paid work, or progress within their career. And this varies depending on age and ethnicity factors - a one size fits all approach won’t cut it, we need to identify specific issues in order to implement tangible and effective action plans."
"Employers must be frequently speaking to staff to identify where the blockers to saving are, while also reviewing their pension offering's design to ensure equity across the workforce. Elements such as reviewing any tiered matching contribution rates (which are arguably intrinsically gender biased) and introducing pension contribution auto-escalation, particularly after periods of parental leave. The goal being to invoke better decision making and outcomes overall.”
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