Women in England are more reliant on income from the state pension in retirement than men, according to new research from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).

It found that 68 per cent of the English population aged 50 and above whose income is entirely made of state pension and benefits are women.

Furthermore, 73 per cent of people who are reliant on the state pension and benefits as their sole sources of income are single.

Of the single people relying on the state pension and benefits, 55 per cent are women, 18 per cent are men, while cohabiting or married people make up the other 27 per cent.

The ELSA’s research also found that 57 of women who are working past retirement age are heavily reliant on state pension income, compared to 43 per cent of men.

State pension equates to more than 50 per cent of income for 59 per cent of women in work after retirement age, while this is the case for only 41 per cent of men.

The ELSA is a joint research initiative by the National Centre for Social Research, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, University College London, the University of Manchester, and the University of East Anglia.

It collects data from people aged over 50 to understand all aspects of ageing in England.

More than 18,000 people have taken part in the study since it started in 2002, with the same people re-interviewed every two years.

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