According to new research from leading digital marketing agency, AccuraCast, both men and women are still missing out on pension knowledge and pension savings. The survey asked 1,000 respondents how they felt about their pension pot and the results found that many people were still not paying into a pension and more worryingly did not understand their pension.
The survey shows the gender pension gap still exists, with overall less women paying into a pension than men (8.5 percent of women surveyed said they did not currently pay into a pension fund compared to 5 per cent of men.)
However, the survey found that twice the proportion of men aged from 35-44 years don’t currently pay into a pension compared to women the same age (20.5 per cent of men compared to 9.6 per cent of women). This could be an impact of COVID or the current economic climate. In consumers aged 45-54 years it was the opposite, with 8 per cent of men not paying into a pension, compared to 15 per cent of women.
Almost one third (30 per cent) of women aged under 44 years and a quarter of men (25 per cent) in the same age category said they did not understand their pension.
The gender pay gap is widely talked about, but we hear less about the gender pension gap. There are various figures online about the gender pension gap, but some reports suggest that women save on average £100,000 less in their pension pot compared to men – a staggering two-thirds less. This could be down to the lack of knowledge or understanding, along with difference in average pay and the fact women can miss out on pension contributions whilst taking time out to have a baby or look after their family.
In people heading to retirement there was a disparity between men and women’s understanding of their pension pots – 6 per cent of women aged over 56 said they were retired and understood their pension, as opposed to 10 per cent of men.
Farhad Divecha, founder and managing director of AccuraCast said: “Our research has sadly shown that the gender pension gap is still very much real and there are gaps in knowledge between men and women’s understanding of their pension pots. Our research also follows the national trend about less women paying into their pension than men, but also showed some interesting findings about men paying into pensions. There is a real opportunity for brands to build on this and ensure products are clearly explained.”
Justin Harris, managing director of Chase Belgrave, an independent financial advisory company, said: “When planning for your future, it is important that you have a clear understanding of your pension, what the terminology means and how much you need to be putting away to have a comfortable retirement.”
