Menopause ‘pension penalty’ costs women £30,000 in retirement
Women risk losing out on more than £30,000 in pension savings because of the impact of the menopause on their work, new research has found.
More than half of women will take time off from work due to the menopause, the clinic Newson Health said.
A woman in her 40s earning an average salary would lose out on around £1,750 in contributions if she took eight months of leave, the typical period of time taken out of work by women with severe menopausal symptoms, the clinic found.
For women who reduce their working hours up until retirement, they could face a £32,000 dent to their nest egg, it said.
Dr Louise Newson, of Newson Health, said employers needed to offer more support to women struggling with menopause symptoms in the workplace, which can include hot flushes, problems with memory and concentration, and headaches.
“We know of the significant difficulties women face in the workplace during menopause, from feeling unable to discuss their symptoms to dropping out of the workforce altogether,” she said.
Almost 900,000 women have left their jobs because of menopausal symptoms, according to estimates from the health insurer Bupa.
“We urgently need menopause support in the workplace grounded in evidence-based information and improved access to treatment, including HRT, that can help women who are suffering,” she said.
Mims Davies, the minister for social mobility, youth and progression, said that it was “vital” everyone received the reward they deserved after a lifetime of work.
Last month the Government appointed its first “Menopause Employment Champion”, Helen Tomlinson.
Ms Davies said at the time that menopause had been a major driver of “too many women leaving the workforce early, often when they are at the peak of their skills and experience with so much more still to contribute”.
The impact of the menopause on women’s retirement savings contributes to the wider “gender pensions gap”, Dr Newson said.
On average, women aged between 55 and 59 have a private pension worth £94,000, according to figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions for the first time this year. Men in the same age group had £145,000. This divide is partly because of the gender pay gap.
Women also face more career interruptions and live to an older age, which means they often have a smaller pension pot that must sustain them for longer.
This summer the former pensions minister Laura Trott said there was “no easy solution” to the pension gap.
“It’s something that I’ve always been committed to…and I think that the things the Government have done recently in terms of childcare support will help address it because the pensions gap is largely a function of the pay gap at times.”
Women also typically receive lower state pension payments, although this gap is closing faster than initially expected.
On average, women first drawing their state pension received £166 per week in 2016, according to a freedom of information request by the pensions consultancy LCP. Men received £175.
This gap is now much smaller, with women receiving £173 and men receiving £177.
The new state pension was introduced in 2016 to help simplify the system and help women who relied on caring credits to pay for their pension.
The state pension system changed in April 2010 so those who had never paid National Insurance contributions could still qualify through National Insurance “credits”. This meant that thousands of people who looked after their children full-time, mostly women, became entitled to a state pension.
Has the menopause affected your work life? We want to hear from you. Please email money@telegraph.co.uk
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