Female divorcees have been found to typically have £53,160 less in pensions savings than divorced men in the UK, according to research by Now:Pensions and the Pension Policy Institute.
Divorced women hold just 39% of the pension wealth of divorced men, with the median pension wealth for divorced men standing at £85,800, compared to £32,640 for divorced women. Among married individuals, men hold 61% more with £111,540, versus £43,656 for women.
Divorced women’s annual pension income of £13,893 stands at just over the UK’s minimum retirement living standard of £13,400, compared to a divorced man’s pension income of £18,573 per annum.
A total of 30% of divorced women work part-time, compared to 10% of divorced men, and earn 37% less on average, at £31,279 versus £45,540. This means divorced women are twice as likely to be excluded from automatic-enrolment compared to men, at 6% versus 3%.
Despite pensions being the second-largest marital asset, only 11% of the more than 100,000 divorces in 2024 and 2025 involved pension attachment orders for the division of assets. In addition, 71% of divorce settlements do not consider pension assets.
Samantha Gould, UK head of campaigns at Mercer, said: “Our research highlights a stark disparity: divorced women’s private pension incomes amount to less than 39% of the average pension wealth held by divorced men. We are committed to promoting greater pension equality for all, regardless of gender. To address this imbalance, we support the implementation of automatic consideration of pension assets in divorce, a measure that could narrow the pension savings gap and help divorced women to enjoy the retirement they deserve.”
Joanne Segars, chair of the trustee board at Now:Pensions Master Trust, added: “Far too many groups in our society experience an uncomfortable reality and they are locked out of the pension auto-enrolment system, unable to earn enough to put money aside for later. As a result, these groups find themselves on the wrong side of a growing pension savings gap.”
