Gender pensions gap

The gender pensions gap doesn’t begin at retirement age. Nor does it start with the first wage packet. A lifetime of inequality means women, on average, will have to work an extra 19 years to retire with the same pensions savings as men. We’re campaigning to close the gap.

The 2024 gender pensions gap report

The effects of the gender pensions gap multiply during a working life. Its impacts are felt in retirement, where 67% of pensioners in poverty are women. Put simply, the gender pensions gap is a whole life issue.

The 2024 gender pensions gap report finds:

  • Today, women retire on average with pension savings of £69,000, compared to £205,000 for men.
  • In order to close this gap, a girl would need to start pension saving at just three years old, to retire with the same amount of money as working men.
  • Career gaps owing to childcare and other factors result in an average ten-year career gap for women, amounting to £39,000 in lost pension savings.

 

Download the 2024 report

The gender pensions gap in numbers

Bar chart showing 74% of women in employment compared with 83% of men in 2023.

Percentage of men and women in employment

Women are more likely to have different working patterns over their working lives, and this is reflected in varying employment rates.

In 2023, 74% of women were in employment compared with 83% of men.

Bar chart showing average annual income of men (£33,000) and women (£24,800) in 2023.

Average annual income of men and women (2023)

As it stands, women’s average annual incomes (£24,800) are equal to 75% of men’s (£33,000).

Line graph showing the gender pay gap rising from 0.9% to 12.3%.

Gender pay gap percentage for women

At the start of her career and lasting until she’s 29, the gender pay gap for a three-year old girl will be 0.9%.

This will rise to 12.3% by the time she’s 40.

Previous reports

The gender pensions gap report 2022

 Download the 2022 report
Gender pensions gap report

Facing an unequal future: closing the gender pensions gap

 Download the 2019 report
Illustration of parents holding a child, a woman holding hands with her child and two women walking

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