The gender gap is widening, with just 47 per cent of women saving sufficiently for retirement compared to 59 per cent of men, according to Scottish Widows.

The fifth annual Scottish Widows Women and Pensions Report, Women's pensions today and tomorrow, shows that the gap has widened by three per cent since 2008, and 26 per cent of women that could and should be saving are not at all, compared to just 15 per cent of men. More concerning, however, is the 44 per cent of women with no private pension who believe they will never contribute to one.

The report showed that one of the biggest consequences of the economic downturn has been the impact on pension pots, and 42 per cent of women agree that this has had an impact on them. Only 12 per cent of women think their pension pot will not be affected by the recession.

"During the economic downturn overall pensions savings have increased, but this is mainly among men and the gender gap has actually widened compared to last year," reported Ian Naismith, head of pensions market development at Scottish Widows.

"Although it is encouraging that women have the desire to put more aside for retirement, this doesn't seem to be translating into actual increased savings particularly and they also have more non-mortgage debt than men. Year on year our findings have exposed women as the pensions underdogs and in a climate when people need to be saving more than ever for their futures, it is worrying that women over 50 are actually saving less then previous years."

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