Pensions Minister, Guy Opperman, has accepted that there is “more to do” in closing the gender pension gap, describing it as a priority for all.

During a House of Commons debate on the gender pension gap, Scottish National Party MP for North Ayrshire and Arran, Patricia Gibson, said the gender pension gap of 40.3 per cent was “shameful” and more than double the gender pay gap of 17.3 per cent.

She urged the government to remove the £10,000 earning limit on auto-enrolment pensions, to address the net pay anomaly, and introduce a ‘family carer’s top-up’, whereby the government would pay the equivalent of the employer’s contribution into women’s pensions if they are taking time out as carers. 

“This would equate to around £820 per year and would boost pension outcomes for women by 20 per cent if they took 10 years out of the workforce to undertake caring responsibilities and return to the workforce thereafter,” she stated.

“Importantly, research shows that this could close half the pension wealth gap that is created by taking time out of work to care for others.”

In response, Opperman said that the government recognised that the gender pension gap was an “important issue” and one it remained committed to addressing.

He pointed to auto-enrolment, the government’s commitment to implementing the findings of the auto-enrolment review by the mid-2020s, and the call for evidence on tax relief administration as ways in which the government is tackling the issue.

Although he believed that the current government and previous government’s had made progress in this area, he accepted that there was “more to do” and that it remained a priority.

Commenting on the debate, The People’s Pension director of policy, Phil Brown, said: “We welcome last night’s Commons’ debate on the gender pensions gap as this important issue has only received limited parliamentary scrutiny.
 
“The Pensions Minister is right to acknowledge that more must be done and we are heartened that he says closing the gap remains a priority.

"It’s very encouraging to hear the minister say the government is committed to lowering the threshold for automatic enrolment and making contributions count from the first pound earned. However, these welcome changes won’t close the gap on their own.
 
“The government needs to ensure that more women have access to more affordable, quality childcare if they are serious about closing the gap.”

During the debate, Opperman also noted that the government remained committed to developing effective retirement solutions for the self-employed.

He stated that the government is working with HMRC to incorporate self-employed pension solutions into the Making Tax Digital programme that HMRC is introducing, which he believes will "genuinely assist" self-employed pension savers.

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