Women will be hit the hardest if the government scraps the triple lock on the state pension, as they are almost twice as likely to rely on the benefit, according to Barnett Waddingham (BW).

Research from the firm showed that 30 per cent of women do not have any private or workplace pensions, and were therefore likely receive a state pension only at retirement, while 17 per cent of men were in the same position.

BW’s survey results showed that this was an even more prevalent issue with older generations, as almost two-fifths (38 per cent) of women over 55 will rely on a state pension only, compared to 17 per cent of men over 55.

There is still inequality in the 45-54 age group, where 53 per cent of women and 67 per cent of men have workplace or occupational pensions.

Conversely, 59 per cent of women between the age of 25 and 34 had a workplace or occupational pension, more than the 58 per cent of Millennial men who do so, with BW attributing this to automatic enrolment.

BW policy and strategy lead, Amanda Latham, commented: “With recent analysis by the OBR predicting that state pensions could rise by as much as 8 per cent, the pensions triple lock has once again come under fire.

“Deemed as an outdated policy that is costly to the taxpayer, it’s very clear that there are holes in the system. Any policy that is significantly undermined by a lack of public support needs to be addressed.”

She added that it was crucial that changes “consider the people whose livelihoods and retirements will face the biggest impact”, noting that the triple lock’s biggest critics may well be “the least likely to rely on a state pension in retirement”.

Latham finished: “Reforming the triple lock system is certainly overdue, as the unusually high growth rate proves, but it’s critical that the priority is to bring it to a quality that everyone values and supports.

“Within the pensions system as a whole, we should be thinking about how to create a more fair, robust and inclusive framework that gives everybody the best chance at building financial security for retirement in a targeted way.”

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