Pensions - Articles - Green shoots of recovery in the gender pensions gap


Customer data from PensionBee, a leading online pension provider, suggest that while evidence for the gender pension gap remains, there is also evidence that women are making a concerted effort to close it.

 The data, which looked at frequency and value of contributions over the last six years (2017 to 2022), found:

 • All female age groups have increased their average contributions per year in the last 5 years, with the exception of the over 60s (graph 1)
 • The value of female customers’ contributions are 28% lower at an average £1,890 a year, than male customers’ contributions (average £2,513 a year). However the average value per contribution has risen by 11% over the last six years for females, compared to a 21% decrease in the average value per contribution for male customers
 • The average number of contributions is higher for male customers, at 3.1 per quarter, compared to 2.9 per female customer, per quarter. The average number of contributions per male customer has increased by a higher proportion in the last three years (from 2.6 to 3.1) than the average number of contributions per female customer (from 2.7 to 2.9), suggesting that the pandemic boosted male customers’ saving efforts more than it did for female customers (graph 2)
 • Both female and male customers make the highest number of contributions in their forties; the highest value contributions are made in the 60+ age group.

 Becky O’Connor, Director of Public Affairs at PensionBee, commented: “There are green shoots of evidence that the gender pension gap could close, according to PensionBee male and female customer data.

 “It’s great to see the effort our female customers are making towards boosting their pensions and while the value of contributions is still lower than for male customers, the trajectory is going in the right direction. Men seem to be making more frequent contributions, while women make slightly fewer, but are increasing the amount they put in each time, on average.

 “There is still a huge amount to do on the gender pension gap: paying female workers equally is an obvious one but redressing the imbalance in society around who does caring is another big one to tackle. From our data, it appears female customers are doing as much as they can possibly manage that is within their own control to look after their own futures, but against the wider odds, individual efforts only go so far.”
  

Back to Index


Similar News to this Story

Further comments on DWP Small Pots Consolidation report
Broadstone, Hymans Robertson, Scottish Widows and Now Pensions comment on the DWP announcement on consolidating small pension pots
Pensions over taxation bill continues to climb
Brits reclaimed £44 million in overtaxation on pension withdrawals in January, February and March 2025, the latest HMRC figures reveal. Over 15,000 re
Responses to DWPs Small Pots Delivery Group report
Standard Life, LCP and Aegon comment on the DWPs Small Pots Delivery Group report with proposed legislative programme outlined in meaning that pots wo

Site Search

Exact   Any  

Latest Actuarial Jobs

Actuarial Login

Email
Password
 Jobseeker    Client
Reminder Logon

APA Sponsors

Actuarial Jobs & News Feeds

Jobs RSS News RSS

WikiActuary

Be the first to contribute to our definitive actuarial reference forum. Built by actuaries for actuaries.