From the blog: Alongside concerns that women comprise a large but undervalued section of the workforce, a growing body of research warns they also risk getting a bad deal at retirement.
Earlier this summer, provider Scottish Widows’ Retirement Report 2015 showed women were behind the curve when it came to saving adequately for retirement.
This week, research from provider Fidelity reached a similar conclusion, finding that women were less likely to have either a defined contribution or defined benefit pot, as well as a heavier reliance on the state pension.
Earlier this summer, provider Scottish Widows’ Retirement Report 2015 showed women were behind the curve when it came to saving adequately for retirement.
This week, research from provider Fidelity reached a similar conclusion, finding that women were less likely to have either a defined contribution or defined benefit pot, as well as a heavier reliance on the state pension.
The provider commissioned a study of 1,014 UK adults who plan to retire in the next five years or who have retired in the past five years, with a private pension on top of a state pension.
Women at risk
Respondents were asked to select the pensions options they held. Each was allowed to choose up to three responses.
Source: Fidelity
As the graph shows, notably more men have DB and DC pots regardless of whether they had accessed them yet. They were also far less likely to list the basic state pension as a source of income in retirement.
This bears out the findings from Scottish Widows' earlier report, which showed that while 56 per cent of overall respondents were saving adequately for retirement, only 52 per cent of women were, compared with 60 per cent of men.
Source: Scottish Widows Retirement Report 2015
In a statement accompanying the survey, Maike Currie, associate investment director at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, said historical differences in working patterns were a factor in lower savings rates among women.
She added: "Women often take a career break to start a family, which inevitably impacts how much is saved into a pension over a lifetime."
This explains another striking shortfall: the average woman's retirement savings amounted to just £35,000, compared with £87,000 on average for men.
Given the respondents were all aged over 55, the profile of responses is likely to change dramatically in coming years as DB schemes close to new entrants and DC schemes continue to rise in popularity.
Source: Fidelity
