Women 'short-changed on pensions'
01 October 2007
More needs to be done to help women prepare for their retirement, the Fawcett Society has said.
Spokesperson Sarah Campbell said women were less likely than men to have either a private or company pension and that "the onus must be on the government and employers to enable women to contribute to pensions through motherhood".
Ms Campbell attributed the pensions gap to two main factors - different rates of pay between men and women and time lost from working life to childcare.
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Women in full-time work are paid on average 17 per cent less than men, while women in part-time work get 40 per cent less than their male counterparts.
Female access to pensions is further attenuated by breaks from employment to look after children.
Ms Campbell said: "Personally, women can avoid disadvantage by opting in to pensions as early as possible - as life events may mean they are able to contribute less to pensions than men later on."
She welcomed the new carer's credits, which recognise the unpaid work done by women, but stressed that more needed to be done, advocating flexible working and mandatory pay checks.
The Fawcett society is the UK's campaign group for equality between women and men.
