The Stress of The Gender Pension Gap

Young women in their late 20s through their early 30s, are facing a smaller pension pot then men by the  time they reach 68. The penalty is simply caused by the motherhood and caring commitments they endure through that time.  There seems to always be a story line of women not being able to do it all in life and in their career- but knowledge is our power ladies and the sooner we understand the sooner we can achieve all things. We need to recognize and understand the failure in our industry.

Many women in their 20s have put pensions at the bottom of their priority list, and the only ones who truly understand are those selling them. Fidelity International’s investment director, Maike Currie says, “A lake of time, confidence, access to the right information, industry jargon and not knowing where to start are just some of the obstacles that stop many women from thinking that investment is for them.”

“Motherhood penalties,” that take away from work to raise a child, and “Good daughter penalties” that cause career breaks to look after an elderly parent, are the primary reason for this pension gap. In time, the amount going into pension savings would fall or even stop during that time. Fidelity International said that women will usually choose a safer cash saving route, but potentially more lucrative investment products.

There are pension auto-enrollments that employers can enroll at age 22 and and earn above 10,000 into a pension, but the failure in the system is that women who work part-time were not earning enough to qualify for these pension contributions. The pension provisions for women are said to be improving by bringing light to the historic gender divide.

Let us know below how you feel about the gender pension gap. As young readers, did you know about the pension gap is for our future?