Half of adults aged 62-65 are at risk of inadequate retirement income, with women facing significantly lower private pension wealth and greater reliance on the state pension, analysis from The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has revealed.

The research drew on data from the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS), following 7,802 individuals born in a single week in 1958 as they approached state pension age (SPA).

The cohort was surveyed at ages 62-65, capturing detailed information on pension provision, savings, health and retirement expectations.

The report found that while eight in 10 individuals had some form of private pension, adequacy remained a significant concern.

Based on Target Replacement Rates, around half were estimated not to have sufficient pension income to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living.

Using single household Retirement Living Standards (RLS), more than six in 10 (66 per cent) of those not living with a partner failed to meet the minimum benchmark.

Notably, men’s defined benefit (DB) pensions were worth nearly twice those of women, at £13,900 per year compared to £7,500.

Defined contribution (DC) pension pots showed an even wider divide, with median values of £90,000 for men and £28,500 for women.

Women were also more likely to rely primarily on the state pension in retirement.

Overall, the report estimated that 47 per cent of the cohort would derive between 67 and 100 per cent of their retirement income from the state pension.

This group was more likely to be female, less educated, self-employed, and renting in later life.

State pension literacy also emerged as an issue, with one in five not knowing the correct age at which they would receive their state pension, while one in three did not know how much they would receive.

In addition, half had less than £25,000 in household savings, and 16 per cent had no savings at all.

Indeed, those without a private pension were significantly more likely to have experienced persistent poverty, poor health and fragmented work histories.

Self-employment, however, was associated with different retirement patterns.

Those who had spent the majority of their working lives self-employed were far more likely to remain economically active in their early 60s and were nearly three times as likely to expect to still be in paid work at age 68 or later.

Commenting on the gender disparities, Broadstone head of DC proposition, Kelly Parsons, said the findings highlighted enduring structural inequalities.

“This stark disparity underlines that the gender pensions gap remains one of the biggest structural inequalities in the UK retirement system,” she stated.

“The fact that men’s DB annual incomes are almost double those of women and DC pots more than three times the size reflects a long-standing combination of lower average earnings, career breaks, higher rates of part-time work and lower contribution levels.

“While auto-enrolment has brought millions more women into pension saving, these figures show that participation alone is not enough to close the gap."

Therefore, Parsons stressed that the next phase of reform should focus on contribution adequacy and targeted engagement with groups at greatest risk of poorer retirement outcomes.

“For employers, this is also a workforce issue," she argued.

"Better scheme design, more inclusive contribution structures and support around life events such as parental leave can make a meaningful difference.

"Without coordinated action from policymakers, employers and the industry, today’s imbalance risks becoming tomorrow’s retirement inequality."

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