We will not close the gender pension gap until government starts reporting on it

The Pensions Minister Laura Trott has confirmed to the Commons Work and Pensions Committee that the Government is considering reporting regularly on the gender pension gap.

There is currently no official measure of the gender pension gap so for the last few years Prospect has had to do its own analysis in the hope of persuading government to do something about it.

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

“This is a welcome development. We will not close the gender pension gap – which Prospect research shows grew to 37.9% in 2019-20 – until the government starts regularly reporting on it.

“Women leaving the workforce to undertake unpaid caring responsibilities is one of the primary causes of the gap.

“The government can take action now to start closing the gap by better recognising caring responsibilities in the pension system – such as by providing additional state pension credit for anyone looking after children under the age of 12.”