Mums face pension pot shortfall

Friday, 04 December 2009 01:44

Women are failing to save enough for their retirement compared to men because many stop work to have children.

More and more women, a report has found, are realising their husband's pension plan is not sufficient to see them through retirement.

Yet, only 47 per cent of females are saving enough in a pension plan compared to 59 per cent of men, the Scottish Widows Women and Pensions Report has revealed.

Alison Morris, savings expert for Scottish Widows, said more flexible working practices were needed to help women juggle childcare responsibilities along with their working lives.

She added: "We want women to understand the impact career breaks have on their pensions and encourage them to do what they can to minimise this, such as restarting contributions as soon as they can or buy making additional payments before they take a break."

A quarter of women stop contributing to their pension and other long-term savings when they have children, the report found.

However, it also revealed a tendency for many women to work part-time when they do return to employment. Only 47 per cent of women aged 30 to 50 work full time, compared to 82 per cent of men in the same age group.

Scottish Widows also found 32 per cent of men had wives who were financially dependent on them and 42 per cent admitted their partner did not have a pension.

The survey authors said this showed an uncertain future for many women.

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