Three quarters (75 per cent) of single mothers, representing around two million women, could face living in poverty when they retire, research from Scottish Widows has found.

Scottish Widows’ annual Women and Retirement Report highlighted the impact that the ‘motherhood penalty has on later life, revealing that deep-rooted structural inequalities cause women to earn less, work less and save less for retirement when they become parents.

In particular, the report found that the issue of unavailable or expensive childcare disproportionately impacts the job prospects of mothers, as more than a third (37 per cent) leave jobs to look after their children, while nearly half (48 per cent) said that having children slowed their career progression.

The report suggested that these concerns are also exacerbated for single mothers who are unable to share the burden of day-to-day costs and childcare provision with a partner.

Indeed, according to the research, over half (51 per cent) of single mothers struggle to find jobs in the first place, while almost half (46 per cent) of single mothers have reduced their hours to manage childcare.

And this could have a lasting impact on later life stability, as the research estimated that a permanent move to part-time work at age 30 can cost women £47,000 in their pension pot at retirement.

Childcare was also identified as a key contributor to the overall gender pension gap, as the research found that women typically take on substantially more childcare than men, which limits the amount they can work over their lifetime and reduces the amount they can save into their pensions.

Indeed, whilst 50 per cent of fathers said they share childcare equally with their partners, only 31 per cent of mothers agreed, with more than half (56 per cent) stating that they do the majority of childcare.

The use of professional childcare services was not an option for many, as Scottish Widows pointed out that the average cost of full-time professional childcare at a nursery for child under two in Great Britain represents 64 per cent of the take-home pay of the average person in Great Britain, at £14,000 a year.

This makes childcare unaffordable for the average family, with just over a third (37 per cent) of mothers and 33 per cent of fathers having professional childcare for any days of the working week.

Instead, nearly half (44 per cent) of mothers spend all five working days looking after their children (compared to just 16 per cent of fathers), in turn limiting the hours that women can work over their lifetime and compounds the impact of the gender pay gap.

Scottish Widows argued that issues such as this are the reason why the gender pension gap ends up being over double the size of the gender pay gap, at 39 per cent compared to 15 per cent.

And childcare issues are beginning to have more widespread ramifications, with one in seven grandmothers (15 per cent) cutting their working hours to help raise their grandchildren, putting further pressure on their own retirement lifestyle prospects.

Single mothers were not the only group facing challenges either, as the report found that 60 per cent of divorced women are not on track of even a minimum lifestyle.

In addition to this, over half (59 per cent) of divorced women and 56 per cent of single mothers said they feel they are not adequately preparing for retirement.

Given these concerns, Scottish Widows warned that, despite recent government plans to extend childcare support, pressures are likely to continue to grow.

Scottish Widows managing director, Jackie Leiper, stated: “Despite how familiar we all are with the gender pension gap issue, the long-term impact on the day-to-day reality for women when they retire is less talked about.

“Understandably, single women affected by the motherhood penalty and the cost of solo parenting may be more focused on how to support their family today, but this report shows the struggle they could face by the time they become grandmothers.

“We must recognise the amount of childcare responsibility that falls on single mothers and their huge contribution to society which means they should be protected by policies to limit the impact it has on their careers and pensions.

"The government needs to prioritise affordable childcare to improve the retirement prospects for all mothers and single mothers in particular.”

Adding to this, Fawcett Society head of policy, advocacy and research, Alesha De-Freitas, said: “The findings of this report underscore the stark reality of the inequalities that disadvantage women throughout their lives.

"The government needs to make urgent changes to rebalance the drastic inequality that will see 75 per cent of single mothers plunged into poverty when they reach retirement age.

“We need urgent childcare reform that prioritises accessibility and affordability for everyone, and this needs to work in tandem with an economy that delivers high quality flexible work.

"The fact that we have neither of these benefits means that the current cohort of young mothers will be significantly poorer for the rest of their lives. We cannot afford to burden future generations with the same problems.”

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