Trade union Prospect has released research stating that the gender pension gap has increased to 39.9%. In addition, 1.81 million working-age women are economically inactive due to family care commitments, compared with 223,000 men, according to Office of National Statistics figures.

Women are more likely to reduce their hours or even leave employment altogether, which contributes to the increase in the pension gender gap. However, a report from Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) states that women have a life expectancy of around two years and two months longer than men, which means that they need to sustain their pension income for longer. PPI has also confirmed that 1.2 million women who are approaching retirement age have no savings at all.

According to a recent report from The People’s Pension, by the time a woman is aged between 65 and 69, her average pension wealth is £35,700, roughly a fifth of that of a man her age.

The report also revealed that 74% of women were working full time prior to the birth of their first child. Yet after having children, only 24% returned to work on the same hours, 44% returned to work on reduced hours, and 36% left work altogether*. Nearly half of the women who left the workforce altogether said it didn’t make financial sense to carry on working and pay extensive childcare fees. Studies also found that many want to be more available to look after ageing parents.

So how can employers ensure members are saving enough despite changing work patterns?

There are some things to consider as an employer, which may help you bridge the pension gender gap. Flexible working is said to help encourage mothers to return to work with the same role and hours. Also, by offering support before, during, and after a woman leaves work temporarily, you can help highlight that returning to work and building valuable savings is a feasible option for working women.

* the report states that the percentages do not add up to 100 as the question design they carried out allowed women to select multiple options to allow for different actions after the birth of more than one child.