Women retiring today now receive almost as much state pension as men, with new figures showing an unfair gender gap is close to being eliminated. Men still get £1.80 more per week on average, according to the Department for Work and Pensions, but the difference between the sexes has narrowed significantly.
Women have historically been penalised for taking long career breaks or simply not working at all, beause the state pension is linked to National Insurance contributions. In 2018, the average female pensioner received £126.72 from the state pension each week, while men received £153.97. But the average newly retired man now receives a pension of £209.95 per week, with the average newly retired woman getting £208.15 – an £81.43-per-week boost on 2018. The amounts are on course to be equal very shortly, the Government said.
The data was obtained following a freedom of information (FOI) request by former Liberal Democrat pensions minister Sir Steve Webb, who is now a partner at consultants LCP (Lane Clark & Peacock).
Sir Steve said: “I am delighted to see that when it comes to the state pension, the battle against the gender pension gap is nearly won for those retiring today.
“When there is so much negative news about gaps between men and women when it comes to pensions, these figures show that things can be changed provided that there is the political will to do so.
“There are however far too many women who have already retired who are living on reduced pensions and I will continue to campaign for them to be treated fairly, including by rooting out all of the errors which have led to so many being underpaid for so long.”
The new state pension was introduced in 2016, simplifying the system.
The FOI response said: “Women on the new state pension are receiving over £18 more per week than those on the pre-2016 system.
“That is around 98% of the amount received by men (the average for women under the pre-2016 system is 86%).”