Caught in a gap – the role of employers in enabling women to build better pensions

The Institute for Employment Studies has partnered with Phoenix Insights to develop two in-depth reports which analyse women’s finances through the lens of the workplace.

The research, which includes interviews with 22 employers and 31 individuals, as well as analysis of Understanding Society (the national household survey), looks at stages across the female life stages, such as childbirth, divorce, miscarriage, caring duties and the menopause to understand how these life stages affect women’s work patterns and choices, their overall earnings capability and their ability to save.

In turn, the research goes on to consider how this negatively impacts their pension contributions and ultimately their financial situation when they come to retire. This report presents an opportunity for employers to engage with the actions that can be taken at these different life stages to help achieve sustainable, long-term improvements to gender equalities within organisations and have a positive impact on the gender pension gap as a result.