It’s International Women’s Day and research from Scottish Widows shows that on average, women today retire with £123,000 less than men. There are lots of reasons, some obvious, some not so much. They include:
- The historical roles of men and women in the workplace
- The disparity in workplace earnings between men and women
- The historical roles of men and women in the home – what PWC refer to as the ‘motherhood penalty’
- The focus of key messaging by the government, employers and the financial services industry
- The design of retirement savings vehicles by the government and the financial services industry
If solutions were easy they would have been implemented by now. However, we need to accept that we (government, policy makers, employers, pensions professionals) can do more. Such as:
- Ensure pensions communications aimed at professions where females dominate, highlight the gender pensions gap and what can be done to counter it
- Offer and promote paternity leave – only then can we alter the balance between men and women in the workplace and at home
- Promote greater flexibility in pension schemes, products and policies
- Recognise the trend towards phased/partial retirement
Under the Equality Act 2010 positive discrimination is illegal in the UK. However, this should not be confused with positive action. We need more positive action. Much more.