What is the gender pension gap and how can women make more of their pension?

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Fewer women than men feel confident about their retirement savings. But if you want to feel more in control of your financial future or help a loved one do the same, there are lots of things you can try right now. Read these tips for inspiration. 

More people are now saving for retirement thanks to ‘auto-enrolment’ (which is when employers usually need to set up a workplace pension plan for their employees). But the gender pension gap persists. The good news is that spending more time understanding your pension savings could help you feel better about retirement. We have tips and resources that can help you or someone you know.

What is the gender pension gap?

But first, what is the gender pension gap? It’s the difference in retirement income between men and women, with women tending to have less pension savings to retire with than men.

The causes behind the gender pension gap are complex. But it’s partly driven by the gender pay gap and life events – like motherhood, divorce, and caring responsibilities – that can often make it harder for women to save for the future. 

Pension tips that could help women make more of their money

Whilst the gender pension gap isn’t a simple issue to fix, there are lots of things women can do right now that could help them feel more in control of their pension savings. 

Check if your pension savings are on track

Arming yourself with knowledge is a good way to help you make more confident decisions. So if you’re unsure whether you’re saving enough, finding out how much you have in your pension plan(s) now could help you understand if you’re on track for the retirement you want. To check the current value of your Standard Life plan, you can log into our online services or use our app.

You can then try our pension calculator. This can give you a clearer picture of what adjustments you could make to help you meet your retirement goals, such as increasing your monthly payments into your plan, or topping your plan up with a one-off payment. Do keep in mind a pension is an investment. Its value can go down as well as up and could be worth less than was paid in.

You might also want to check the Retirement Living Standards from Pensions UK. These give you an idea of how much your retirement might cost at a ‘minimum’, ‘moderate’ or ‘comfortable’ standard of living.

Stop and think before you consider cutting back on pension payments

Women have been disproportionately impacted by cost-of-living increases over the past few years. And we know that some people think about cutting back on their payments into their pension plan as a way to deal with high or rising living costs.

But it’s important to consider the impact that this may have on your future. Stopping your payments means you may miss out on employer payments into your plan, as well as tax benefits from the government. This would leave you with a smaller pension pot to retire with, meaning you may need to work for longer.

If you feel you need to cut back, you could think about reducing your payments, rather than stopping them altogether. That way, you can still benefit from tax benefits, and usually a boost from your employer if you got your plan through your job.

See if you can get more from your workplace pension plan

If you’re enrolled in a workplace pension, then your employer has to pay in a minimum of 3% of your qualifying earnings into your workplace pension plan. Your minimum is usually 5%, meaning 8% in totally normally needs to be paid in.

But some employers may pay in more than the required minimum as part of their benefits package. In some cases, they may match what you put in, up to a particular percentage – which could significantly boost the amount going into your workplace pension plan. So it’s worth checking if your employer offers this.

You can also read our ‘What is a workplace pension?’ guide to learn the basics on workplace pension plans.

How we can support you

Want to get more familiar with your Standard Life pension plan or feel more in control of your pension savings? You could try logging into our online services or downloading our app, where you can find out the value of your plan, keep your details up to date and more. If you feel it’s right for you, you can usually top up your plan too (although if you’re changing your monthly payments, you might need to ask your employer how it works for you). 

You can also visit our Contact & Support hub for more information on the different ways to get in touch with us. 

We also have lots of help and support on managing your finances on our dedicated ‘Support with everyday money worries’ page, including tips on how to make the most of your money.

 

The information here is based on our understanding in September 2025 and shouldn’t be taken as financial advice.

Your own personal circumstances, including where you live in the UK, will have an impact on the tax you pay. Laws and tax rules may change in the future.

Standard Life accepts no responsibility for information in external websites. These are provided for general information.