The Gender Wealth Gap: Why Women Retire with Half the Wealth of Men

When we talk about gender inequality, the conversation often stops at the gender pay gap. But if we look more deeply, pay is only part of the picture. Wealth, the accumulation of assets like pensions, savings, property, and investments, tells a much bigger story. It captures not only what women earn today, but also the long-term effects of inequality across decades. Analysing data from the Women's Budget Group, shows that women in the UK retire with 49% less wealth than men. Nearly half!

See the data here

This isn’t just an unfortunate statistic: it’s the result of policy choices, workplace cultures, and social expectations that have compounded over generations. Wealth is about more than comfort in retirement. It’s about freedom, security, and power. The ability to leave an abusive relationship, to invest in education, to weather a financial crisis, or to support your children. So when women systematically hold less wealth, the consequences ripple far beyond the bank account.

How Big Is the Gap?

• Total Wealth Gap: Research by the Women's Budget Group shows that men have on average £92,762 more in total wealth than women, a gap of 35%.

• By Retirement: The Sunday Times reports that by age 64, women’s wealth is £101,000 lower on average

• Recent Totals: A recent Stylist report found men’s average total wealth at £378,079, compared to £300,017 for women

These figures piece together a troubling narrative: the gender wealth gap is not only large, but it widens over a lifetime.

What Drives the Gap?

Pensions Play an Outsized Role

Pension wealth is a major driver of inequality. Men typically accumulate far larger private pension pots—sometimes nearly double that of women, due to full-time, long-term employment in higher-paid roles (Joseph Rowntree Foundation).

Pay Gaps and Career Interruptions

Women consistently earn less and are more likely to work part-time or take career breaks, often for caregiving. Over time, the cumulative loss in earnings and contributions results in significantly smaller pension savings (Office for National Statistics).

Investment Confidence and Behaviour

Even at age 19, women are already falling behind in wealth accumulation - women hold less in stocks and shares ISAs (56% men vs. 44% women) (The Times). This reflects broader patterns: women tend toward safer, cash-based savings and feel less confident navigating investments (The Times, The Guardian).

Structural Inequalities

Women dominate lower-paid sectors like education, social care, and retail, while men more often engage in higher-paid fields like tech and finance, even when holding similar degrees (Financial Times). This occupational segregation perpetuates unequal earnings and, over time, unequal wealth.

Loss of Compound Growth

Because of delayed or disrupted contributions, whether due to lower pay, caring roles, or the perceived need to keep money accessible, women miss out on the power of compound interest and long-term growth (The Times, Financial Times).

Real Impacts: Retirement Insecurity and Worry

• Anticipated Shortfalls: Over half of UK women fear they will run out of money in retirement. Non-retired women’s average pension pot is £42,600, compared to £76,700 for men (Financial Times).

• Life Strategies: Some women, like those returning from long career breaks, even re-enter the workforce out of financial necessity, often in lower-paid roles, compounding the disparity (The Times).

Highlighting a 49% gap at retirement isn’t just a number, it’s a call to sustained awareness, policy change, and individual action.

Solutions: From Policy to Personal

At the Systemic Level

• Reform Pension Systems: Address the gender pension gap through automatic enrolment reforms, pension credits, and accessible state provisions.

• Affordable Childcare: Cheap, reliable childcare enables women to remain in full-time work and continue building pension wealth.

• Transparent Pay and Reporting: Pay transparency has been shown to shrink the gender pay gap and could indirectly reduce long-term wealth disparities.

• Financial Education and Gender Lens Investing: Encourage investments that empower women, both as investors and business owners, through gender-lens investing strategies.

At the Personal Level

• Start Early with Pensions and Investments: Even small monthly contributions, started in your 20s, can grow substantially through compounding (The Times, Financial Times).

• Boost Financial Confidence: Follow advocates like Annabelle Williams and Amanda Redman, whose books urge women to become financially confident and independent, invest early, learn, and seek support.

• Talk Money with Your Partner: Share contributions equitably, even if one partner pauses work for care responsibilities, and use partner top-ups to support gaps (The Times).

• Check Benefits and Maximise Contributions: Trace old pensions, buy back missing National Insurance, and leverage pension credits to enhance long-term security (The Scottish Sun).

Conclusion: A Feminist Wealth Mandate

Wealth is power. Yet in the UK today, women at retirement age hold roughly half the wealth of men. This isn't due to chance, but the compounded result of systemic pay gaps, underinvestment, caregiving burdens, and policy neglect. Shining a light on these injustices through clear data invites both social change and individual empowerment as paths forward.

The wealth gap is not only stark, it's survivable. But only if we confront it head-on, with informed policy, collective advocacy, and personal financial agency. It’s time that feminism demanded not just equal pay, but equal wealth, and the independence that comes with it.

August 2025