| November 3, 2022
On the go: The UK has one of the largest gender wealth gaps in Europe, sitting below the global average and only just above the Netherlands, which is in last place for the continent.
A new global study from WTW revealed that women will retire on average with three-quarters (74 per cent) of men’s wealth. This gap increases with seniority, with women in senior roles having less than two-thirds (62 per cent) of the wealth that their male equivalents enjoy at retirement.
The gap stands at 71 per cent for the UK, below the European average of 74 per cent. Only the Netherlands had a worse score on the continent, with 70 per cent.
“In general, as in other regions, the gender-based wealth disparity is largely a result of pay gaps and delayed career trajectories,” the report said of Europe.
“Gaps in financial literacy and responsibilities outside the workplace,” such as childcare, “influence women’s participation in paid employment and therefore their ability to build wealth at retirement”.
The report noted that the EU — of which the UK is no longer part — has the principle of equal pay for work of equal value embedded into law.
It added that there has recently been more legislation in this area, such as the EU directive on pay transparency. The EU still retains a gender pay gap of 13 per cent.
While the government claims that auto-enrolment in the UK has boosted women’s participation in workplace pensions, studies have blamed the UK labour market and rules governing retirement for a gap in wealth at retirement between men and women.
In May, a study of 1,356 older workers aged 45 and over, which was sponsored by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, revealed that half of older females are forced to keep working beyond retirement.
Meanwhile, nearly three-quarters of women said going part-time or taking a career break was the reason they reduced their pension payments.
Sixty-four per cent have previously stopped their pension payments completely due to these factors.
