Just over one in five (21 per cent) Black women are ineligible for auto-enrolment pension schemes as they do not meet the earning criteria, compared to 17 per cent of South Asian women and 4 per cent of White women, research from Scottish Widows has revealed.

Published ahead of International Women's Day, the annual Women and Retirement Report revealed that the pensions gender gap continues to prevail, with women from ethnic minorities in particular facing an uphill battle compared to White women and the wider adult population.

Indeed, the report found that more than half (54 per cent) of Black women have little or nothing saved for retirement, compared to just 35 per cent of White women, while over two thirds (68 per cent) are concerned that they will run out of money during their retirement years, falling to 58 per cent among White women.

Ethnic minority women were also least likely to cite the state pension as a source of income for retirement, including only 32 per cent of Indian women and Black women.

Women from Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds also suffered some of the highest rates of unemployment in the UK, with 11 per cent of the former and 12 per cent of the latter out of work versus 4 per cent of the country as a whole.

The research also found that ethnic minority women are typically disadvantaged by a broad range of issues that intensify financial instability, revealing that they are more likely to rely on rented accommodation, for instance, with 62 per cent of Black women renting, compared to 31 per cent of South Asian women and 26 per cent of White women.

However, Scottish Widows suggested that there are solutions that could accelerate progress towards equity, arguing that lowering the auto-enrolment threshold from the current £10,000 could make a "positive difference".

Scottish Widows intermediary distribution director, Ranila Ravi-Burslem, stated: “As International Women’s Day this year challenges us all to ‘embrace equity’ it’s a perfect time to focus on addressing some of these deep-seated issues.

"We’re calling on the government to remove pension thresholds that unfairly affect women and put education programmes in place to bridge the gap for women from all backgrounds.

“The industry should also do more to support the work of the Money and Pensions Service (Maps) to help women of all backgrounds to take stock of their finances and understand the importance of saving for later life.

"It’s time to break the cycle of financial injustice and we see this event as a crucial step in the journey to more accessible finance for all.”

Adding to this, author and financial influencer, Selina Flavius, argued that "urgent action
needs to be taken now to ensure that Black women are not unfairly affected by a lack of advice and support while enduring unjust financial challenges".

"The ethnicity pay gap is a key contributor to this, which shows that Black, Asian and minority ethnic women earn lower salaries than White British women, which can undoubtedly have a negative impact on their financial resilience, long-term pensions and investment planning," Flavius added.

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