International Women’s Day – Why just one day and what did we learn?

International Women’s Day was a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.  Many facts and figures were issued on this day, but  they apply to women all year round. Here are some highlights looking specifically at some financial implications for women.

Pensions

It was published in January 2022 by the Office for National Statistics¹ that on average, women retiring today retire with half the private pension of men.  It is expected that for younger women entering the workplace, due to the introduction of Automatic Enrolment, this gap will decrease, but not by much.  This is due to: –

• Taking time out of work to care for family
• Working part time – 75% of part time workers are women
• Women working full-time typically earn less than men

Protection

Scottish Widows research² shows women are typically under-insured by 16% compared with men when it come to the total amount of protection they have in place in the event of suffering either a critical illness or in the event of death.

What are the financial implications to a family unit if the female member were to suffer a critical illness or in the event of death?

Female members tend to be the carers in the family unit and if this ability to provide care is taken away, most family units will have to pay for external help.  Family units need to ask themselves what would happen in this eventuality and how would the care that the female member normally provides will be funded?

 Menopause

25% of women going through the menopause are considering giving up work as a result of menopause symptoms and 71.2% women felt their symptoms may impact or has impacted on their performance level.

With nearly 4 million women³ aged between 45-55 in the workplace in the UK and 400,000 starting the menopause each year, Menopause Support is vital.   These women tend to be those in the workplace with a wealth of experience and so Menopause Support is becoming a key retention and recruitment asset by employers.

Financial Education and support can help with these issues. Please contact Wingate at info@wingatebs.com or phone on 01883 332260

Please contact Wingate for help.

¹ONS Pension Wealth, Wealth in Great Britain 2022 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth/datasets/pensionwealthwealthingreatbritain

*² Scottish Widows Internal Data 2021 – Women & Retirement Report

https://www.scottishwidows.co.uk/about_us/media_centre/reports/women-retirement-report/

³ Canada Life

https://www.canadalife.co.uk/workplace-protection/menopause/how-to-support-employees/