The gender pension gap in private pensions stands at around 35 per cent at age 55, meaning that women retire with over a third less in private pension savings than men due to a combination of labour market inequalities, discrimination in the form of women being paid less for the same role as men, and caring responsibilities.

Some women who have saved less, usually due to taking caring responsibilities and who rely on a partner’s retirement income, are further disadvantaged should their marriage breakup.

Over a span of 10 years, the number of women divorcing aged 65 and over has increased by 38 per cent, and fewer than two in 10 divorces have pension sharing orders; divorced women have private pension incomes equivalent to 55 per cent of the population average.

Could product development help ensure women’s retirement incomes are higher, specifically those facing divorce?

For example, could the creation of a joint household pension pot, where both members of a couple contribute to a joint defined contribution pot that would be automatically split 50/50 in the event of divorce, help mitigate the impact of the women saving less into their pension?

The details of how this product would operate and be implemented would need to be worked through, as would calculating the impact on the gender pensions gap.

Is it time for the industry to look at other ways in which product design could help tackle the inequalities women face?

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