The gender pensions gap has been almost completely eliminated when it comes to the state pensions of people retiring today, a freedom of information (FOI) response from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has revealed. 

The FOI request from LCP partner, Steve Webb, revealed that “the amounts for men and women are on course to be equal very shortly”, despite historical inequalities that have been seen since the state pension was introduced in the late 1940s.

Even today, the average state pension paid to men and women who retired under the old state pension system differs greatly, putting the average woman on just 86 per cent of the pension of her male counterpart. 

These figures also ignore the fact that many women on decent state pensions now are widows whose pension only rose when their husband died and who previously spent many years on a lower figure.

However, Webb pointed out that the new state pension system, which was introduced in 2016, was specifically intended to help gradually eliminate the gender pension gap in state pensions. 

Whilst the new system had to be phased in gradually, not least to protect the rights people had already built up under the old system, Webb argued that those transitional protections are gradually working their way out of the system, with the result that the gap between men and women is reducing with every passing year.

Indeed, figures from the FOI response showed that for the most recent group of retirees for which figures are available (those retiring in the year to November 2024), the gap between men and women has shrunk to under 1 per cent.

According to the FOI, the average newly retired man now gets a pension of £209.95 per week, with the average newly retired woman getting £208.15 – within 1 per cent of her male counterpart.

LCP also suggested that, as the new system continues to bed in, this gap is expected to close further and could even lead to a situation where women narrowly overtake men when it comes to state pensions.

And this news was welcomed by Webb, who stated: “I am delighted to see that when it comes to the state pension, the battle against the gender pension gap is nearly won for those retiring today. 

"When there is so much negative news about gaps between men and women when it comes to pensions, these figures show that things can be changed provided that there is the political will to do so. 

"There are however, far too many women who have already retired who are living on reduced pensions and I will continue to campaign for them to be treated fairly, including by rooting out all of the errors which have led to so many being underpaid for so long."

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