House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Gender Pension Gap

Wednesday 25 January 2023 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

Patricia Gibson inquired about recent assessments of the gender pension gap and its implications for government policies.
The Minister responded that steps include shared parental leave and mandatory gender pay gap reporting.
The Minister noted regular monitoring and publication of pension contributions by gender, and availability of funding returner programmes and pension sharing on divorce.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Patricia Gibson SNP

Benefits & Welfare Women & Equalities

Context

The gender pension gap persists due to historical labour market inequalities, affecting women's retirement incomes. The issue is particularly acute for women born in the 1950s who were affected by changes to state pension age.

Question

What recent assessment has been made of the implications for government policies of the gender pension gap? This includes the larger gap compared to the pay gap and its impact on retired women's reliance on pension credit.

Answer from Mims Davies

We have taken steps such as shared parental leave and mandatory gender pay gap reporting. We monitor pension contributions by gender and publish data regularly. Funding returner programmes supports those who have taken time out for caring responsibilities, and pension sharing on divorce is available.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask regarding urgent action for WASPI women was not directly addressed.

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Q2 Patricia Gibson SNP

Benefits & Welfare Women & Equalities

Context

The gender pension gap is larger than the pay gap, leading to more retired women relying on pension credit. This issue persists and affects a significant portion of women in the UK.

Question

More generally, the gender pension gap is significantly larger than the gender pay gap and applies to many UK women who are likely to be poorer in retirement and rely on pension credit. Will the Minister urgently address this injustice or ignore it?