Women living in southern Scotland have 48% less in their pension pot compared to men from the same region, with average pension savings of £19,039, compared to £36,836, according to research by pensions advice organisation Profile Pensions.
Analysing the retirement savings of 9,446 of its customers, Profile Pensions further found a 47% discrepancy in male and female pension pots for north Scotland and the central southern region of England. In north Scotland, for example, women have an average pot of £20,414 while men have £38,548, and in the south, women have saved £25,080 on average, compared to the £46,922 that local men have put aside for retirement.
Michelle Gribbin (pictured), chief investment officer at Profile Pensions, said: “The findings are stark but not surprising. The reasons for the gender pension gap are well documented and hundreds of years in the making, from traditional gender-specific roles to the ongoing discrepancy between the salaries of men and women.”
In the south east, men have, on average, £46,578 in their pension pot, compared to women’s savings of £26,654; this equates to a 43% difference. East Anglia, on the other hand, shows a 44% difference, with savings of £44,752 and £24,987 for men and women, respectively.
Both the north east and the east Midlands have a gender pension gap of 42% in favour of men. Men in the north east have pension savings amounting to £36,729 on average, while women have saved £21,457. In the east Midlands, male employees have put aside £40,183 on average for retirement, versus female employees who have £23,504 in their pension on average.
The south west has a 41% difference in pension savings, with £35,148 in men’s average pension pots compared to women’s £20,828. The north west, on the other hand, shows a 40% difference, as women have £22,769 and men have £37,840.
Across the UK more broadly, the gap in pension savings is 40%, according to Profile Pensions’ analysis, with women saving £23,792 and men saving £39,554.
The percentage difference in pension savings is 37% in Northern Ireland, 34% in Wales, 31% in the west Midlands and 26% in Greater London.
Gribbin added: “Although the last 50 years have seen huge strides in the financial status of women, clearly we are still battling against an unequal legacy and steps need to be taken to make sure the gap narrows.
“Our findings are a timely reminder that women need to take action, as early as possible, to make sure that they are facing retirement confident that they have enough money to live on.”