This week saw industry efforts around the gender pensions gap surge, as research published amid International Women's Day revealed that there is still some way to go to address the pension shortfall facing many women.

Research from PensionBee, for instance, found that whilst the value of women's pension contributions over the past six years increased by 11 per cent, they remained 28 per cent lower than men's.

In addition to this, the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that whilst the difference between men’s and women’s average state pension income has closed to “essentially zero”, “substantial” gender gaps remain in private pension incomes, and were expected to remain for decades to come.

Women from ethnic minorities are facing a particularly uphill battle compared to White women and the wider adult population, with research from Scottish Widows revealing that 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.

These findings prompted renewed calls for auto-enrolment reform, with industry experts also welcoming recent progress on a Private Member's Bill to expand auto-enrolment.

Industry speculation ahead of the budget has also begun more broadly, with industry experts calling on the government to address concerns around the Money Purchase Annual Allowance and lifetime allowance in particular.

Broader pension changes could also be in store, with a second reading for a Private Member's Bill, looking to give employees the right to have their employer pay their pension contribution to a pension of their own choosing, set for a second reading next week, on 17 March 2023.

In addition to this, The Pensions Regulator confirmed that its consolidated single code of practice, which will be called the General Code, is expected to be published this spring.

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