Women warned against retirement pension poverty

Thu, 20 Oct 2005

Women risk not having enough money for their pension retirement because they are not saving money for when they reach retirement age, research revealed.

More than half of women who are saving money for retirement stop doing so once they become mothers, Scottish Widows research shows.

Only 15 per cent of mothers with children younger than five are contributing to retirement pension schemes.

"When you have a pensions system that overlooks the needs of women, it should come as no surprise to find so many women living on low incomes in retirement," commented Ian Naismith, head of pensions market development at Scottish Widows.

But it is not only young mothers who fail to save money for their retirement pension. Before having children, only 31 per cent of women contribute to a UK pension fund, compared to 52 per cent of men.

Millions of women face poverty in retirement because they fail to save money, the report, What Women Want, warned. It is estimated that more than six million women are completely dependent on their husbands for financial survival.

"We need major change within the state and private pensions systems to make it more feasible for women to save and make it more attractive for them to do so," Mr Naismith told the Telegraph.

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