Queen Elizabeth II 1926 - 2022

A new study has found that many young women may be putting their retirement income at risk by opting out of their employer’s workplace pension scheme.

Analysis from mutual insurer Royal London found that 10.5 per cent of women aged 22-29 opt out of their workplace pension.

In comparison, only 8.1 per cent of men in the same age group have opted out. In the 30-39 age bracket women are still more likely to opt out than men, 8.6 per cent compared to 8.2 per cent.

However, those most likely to have opted out of workplace pension arrangements are employees aged 60 or over. With 31.6 per cent of men in this age bracket opting out.

This is not entirely unsurprising as many in this age group may already have accrued a pension earlier in life or be in receipt of the state pension.

Helen Morrissey, pension specialist at Royal London said: “The data highlights a spike in women opting out of pension saving in their 20s and 30s, most likely as they face other commitments like childcare or saving for a house.

“While this may seem like a good idea for them in the short term to fund other priorities, opting out of a pension will only lead to greater financial problems in the future.

“Getting back into the habit of saving for later life is difficult for women if they have missed significant contributions so we need to do everything we can to encourage these women to stay saving for the long term.”

Link: Young women putting financial futures at risk by opting out of pensions