Women are underinvesting in pensions and investment products and have created a “gender financial security gap”, according to Pinsent Masons and The Fawcett Society.

The law firm and gender equality campaigning charity have released a report that shows that the gap often means that the inequalities women experience during their working years are perpetuated and exacerbated in later life, and can put women’s financial independence on the line.

The report, Closing the Gender Gap: Female consumer engagement in Financial Products has shown that not only are women slightly less likely to be contributing to a pension than men, but that they are only half as likely to pay in to a personal pension, with only 13 per cent of self employed women contributing into a pension. In addition, women paying into a pension hold only 70 per cent of the value that men have.

A gender gap in financial literacy has also been indentified by the report, with 40 per cent of women compared with 67 per cent of men having high scores on knowledge of key financial concepts. As a result, women are more likely to say that investment complexity puts them off than men. The report also estimates that 53 per cent of UK women do not have a financial advisor, and of those that do, 73 per cent feel misunderstood by them.

Pinsent Masons head of pensions and long-term savings Carolyn Saunders said that pensions and investment products needed to work harder for women.

“Financial service providers and policy makers need to help change the perception that finance is a man’s world, boost women’s confidence in their financial capabilities and develop products and advertising that speak to women,” said Saunders.

“For the financial institutions that recognise and engage with this change there is significant opportunity to make a positive impact on society while opening up a market which is arguably underserved.”

Fawcett Society chief executive Sam Smethers said: "Women are both carrying more risk throughout their lives and also less able to take action to address those risks. This is partly because women earn less and also tend to prioritise other things over their own financial security."

"But even when women are earning enough to save or invest, the financial information available to them and the choices they are presented with don't appear to work for them. The financial services industry has a huge opportunity here to both put that right and help women to achieve financial independence at the same time."

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