Savings suffer when women put their families first

For many women, family comes first and their future finances second, according to new research from the fifth annual Scottish Widows Women and Pensions Report.  Although women are starting to realise that relying on their partner's pension isn't the best way to get them through retirement, the message that sisters should be saving for themselves still isn't getting through, with just 47% of women saving adequately for retirement compared to 59% of men.

A quarter (24%) of women in the UK stop contributing towards their pensions and other long-term savings once they have children- as a third of women in the UK (33%) have dependent children, this means that many may not be thinking ahead enough and preparing adequately for retirement.

Alison Morris, savings expert for Scottish Widows says: "The many women who pause or stop working altogether because of childcare responsibilities are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to pension contributions. Clearly, women need more flexible working practices to help them juggle their working lives alongside their childcare responsibilities - without these, they'll continue to lag behind men when it comes to saving for the future.  We want women to understand the impact that career breaks have on their pensions and encourage them to do what they can to minimise this, such as restarting contributions as soon as they can or by making additional payments before or after they take a break."

And if women do return to work once they've had kids, many opt for the part-time route, so that they can manage working and looking after their families. Just 47% of women aged 30-50 work full time, compared with the vast majority of men (82%) in the same age group, showing how much harder it is for women to save consistently for their futures.  Women also have completely different priorities when it comes to changing employer than men - women think flexible working arrangements are just as important as a quality pension scheme (45%), when they are considering the benefits packaging of a new employer.

Independent women?

Nearly a third (32%) of men admit that their wives are financially dependent on them - furthermore, 42% state that their partner doesn't have a pension, meaning that far from being independent, these women would have to rely on their husband's money just to survive in retirement . This means an uncertain future for many women - the majority realise that they may not be able to rely on their spouses' pensions in the future, with over a third (36%) admitting that it's unrealistic to expect their partner's pension to keep them comfortable in retirement, yet are still not saving enough for themselves.

Alison Morris, savings expert for Scottish Widows said: "While women are waking up to the fact that they won't be able to rely on their partner's income to keep them comfortable in retirement, this isn't necessarily translating into pension savings. Nothing is ever certain, and while planning for retirement will probably not be a priority for many women they need to start putting themselves first when it comes to planning for their futures.  For more information, visit scottishwidows.co.uk."