Still reeling from reports that the UK state pension age will soon need to rise to 71, according to expert predictions? We’re afraid that the bad news isn’t over, for women at least.

Not only will we likely be working longer than any generation before us, new research by pensions provider Now, Pensions and the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI), suggests that women would need to work for an extra 19 years to retire with the same pensions savings as men.

Women retire on average with pension savings of £69,000, compared with £205,000 for men, with career gaps, caring responsibilities, childcare costs and lower earnings all contributing to women often having less money saved for their post-work lives. As the report states, because automatic enrolment into workplace pensions starts at the age of 22, the 19-year gender pension gap means a girl would need to start saving for retirement from the age of three in order to have kept up with men by retirement age.

The depressing reality of the gender pension gap comes as no surprise. Last year, research from the Department for Work and Pensions analysed private pensions data between 2018 and 2020 and found that for every £100 a man has saved in his pension, a woman has just £65. Put simply, this means that on average, women will reach the age of 55 with 35% less in their private pension pots than men. But that’s not all: as women often live longer than men, our retirement pots need to last longer, too. 

If it sounds bleak, that’s because it is, but there are some simple things you can do to empower yourself financially and secure as much of your future as possible.

As Jacqui Bateson, a retirement specialist at Skipton Building Society, previously told Stylist: “Start saving little by little, as soon as you can. There is so much happening now that needs attention and money: rent or a mortgage, family, holidays, eating out, the list goes on. But the younger you are when you start saving for retirement, the smaller the amounts you need to put away will be. These small amounts really will add up over time, so don’t limit your thinking about retirement – focus on the possibilities instead. You can talk to your employer and friends and family to find out what others are doing to give you some ideas.”

For more information on retirement and your pension, visit the government’s website.

Images: Getty