According to a report just released by Scottish Widows, a quarter of women are not putting away any savings towards their retirement and just 47 percent of women are on track to have a ‘comfortable’ retirement.

Men fare slightly better with 59 percent of men saving the recommended 12 percent of income each month.

There are many factors why women can’t save more for their retirement with the most common reason being a large family. 25 percent who have three children or more said they were not saving any more for their retirement. Women over 50 also are unable to save with many reporting that the recession has made them less well off hence their inability to put money away in a savings account.

The news that many people are not saving for their retirement is worrying as two separate studies have recently showed that Britain’s state pension is one of the worst in the Western world. For those on final salary pension schemes, this is not so much of a worry however for those who have little or no savings, the report is a worry because it means they cannot rely on the state pension for a good lifestyle.

The research looked at over 5,000 people. The results showed that 26 percent of women have no long-term savings aimed at retirement. The figure for men is just 15 percent. The number of women not putting aside money for their retirement has risen by 5 percent since the same time last year.

Popularity: 1% [?]