Gender pension gap narrows but public sector schemes lagging behind

The gap between the level of women’s and men’s pensions, the gender pension gap, has narrowed to 37.9% according to Prospect analysis published in our 6th annual Gender Pension Gap Report.

It had been going down in the years before this, but it is thought the Covid pandemic will have influenced the numbers.

Prospect calculation of the gender pension gap

Prospect has also analysed the GPG for various public sector pension schemes and found an even more significant gap than the average (though this looks at the private portion of someone’s pension entitlement).

After years of campaigning by Prospect, the government has now started producing its own figure for the GPG, estimating the figure at 35% for the years 2018-2020. This is based on a slightly different definition and methodology but the scale is largely consistent with Prospect’s calculation.

Prospect estimates that in the last decade the gap has fallen from 44.9% to 37.9%. If action is not taken to close it, the gap will not be eliminated until 2088.

The gender pension gap:

• represents an average retired woman having £7,000 less pension income than an average retired man.
• is equivalent to an average retired woman only starting to receive her pension income on 17 May each year, if it was paid at the same rate as for an average retired man.
• is over twice the size of the gender pay gap (which ONS reported was 14.9% in 2022).

Public sector schemes lag

Some areas of the public sector show larger gaps than the average with the gap in NHS schemes and in Research Councils worryingly over 60%. More than 2 million women pensioners are in public sector schemes with gaps higher than the national average (not counting those in smaller schemes).

Teachers in England and Wales see a smaller gap of less than 30%, but any gap is still too high.

Prospect has written to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to demand action is taken to address the discrepancy. The letter calls for a change in attitude from officials who have dismissed the gender pension gap as solely a result of the gender pay gap, failing to acknowledge other factors including the uneven distribution of caring responsibilities.

Sue Ferns, Senior Deputy General Secretary of Prospect, said:

“It’s good news that the gender pension gap has narrowed but progress remains painfully slow and the gap still far too wide. It is unacceptable that the gap is not set to be eliminated until 2088.

“Of particular concern are the gaps in some public sector pension schemes which are worse than the average.

“The Government has at least now acknowledged the existence of the gender pension gap and started to measure it, but it now needs to take action, starting with those pension schemes it has a direct interest in.”

Download the new Gender Pension Gap report from the Prospect Library.