UK women on average earnings who do not contribute to a retirement fund during career breaks could damage their pension to the sum of £4,680 a year, according to new research.

A Duncan Lawrie Private Bank survey found a quarter of women in the UK are or are planning to take a career break for family or travel reasons, and 28 per cent had made no plans to compensate for any losses to their pensions during this time. Just 11 per cent planned to work longer hours or retire later to reduce pension losses.

“When travelling or starting a family, pension planning is never going to be anyone’s primary concern,” Duncan Lawrie Private Bank pensions expert Richard Boyd said. “For some, a pension might be one spinning plate too many to manage, but its importance cannot be underestimated. Those that do let the plate fall may live to regret their decision later down the line.”

Twenty four per cent of women do not believe that taking a career break will have a negative impact on their pensions, despite Duncan Lawrie Private Bank figures revealing that a five year break during an average forty year career could leave people with a pension pot shortfall of as much as £70,000.

Boyd said funding in retirement is one of the great economic issues that facing the country, and people should look out for themselves as the government seeks ways of understanding how to better fund state pensions.

“Any extended period where you are not contributing to a pension can have a dramatic impact in later life,” he said. “While living for the moment is commendable, people need to cover all their bases and ensure that a day in the sun does not end up as a dark cloud hanging over you later in life.”

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