Gender pension gap significant in every region and nation of the UK

Gender pension gap significant in every region and nation of the UK

The gender pension gap is higher in England than other nations of the UK according to analysis of Family Resources Survey datasets by the trade union Prospect (1).



Within English regions, the gender pension gap is highest in the South-West and lowest in the East Midlands (2).

The gender pension gap ranged from 25.2% in Northern Ireland to 46.9% in the South-West of England.

The vast majority of nations and regions had a gender pension gap in the range of 36% to 42%.

Sue Ferns, Prospect’s senior deputy general secretary commented:

“These figures show that the gender pension gap is a problem in every part of the UK and further demonstrate the need for action to address it.”

The regional gender pension gap figures can all be broken down into a relatively low gender gap in state pension income and a much higher gender gap in private pension income.    

Sue Ferns added: “It’s important to draw the right conclusions from this data. A low gender pension gap may simply be a result of relatively low levels of private sector pension income in that region. Clearly low levels of private pension income are nothing to celebrate. It’s important to tackle the gender pension gap the right way, by measures that actually boost pension entitlement for women. One of the best ways of doing this is through better recognition of caring responsibilities in the pension system.”     

 

(1)  Estimated gender pension gap by UK nation according to Prospect analysis of 2016-17 Family Resources Survey datasets

Gender pension gap by nation (2016-17)

UK

39.4%

England

40.6%

Wales

38.9%

Scotland

38.2%

Northern Ireland

25.2%

 (2)  Estimated gender pension gap by English region according to Prospect analysis of 2016-17 Family Resources Survey datasets

Gender pension gap by English region (2016-17)

North-East

36.9%

North-West

41.5%

Yorks & the Humber

36.0%

East Midlands

34.3%

West Midlands

37.4%

East of England

37.9%

London

38.7%

South-East

41.9%

South-West

46.9%