The pledge was made by pensions minister Malcolm Wicks during the committee stage of the Pensions Bill.

Women in England have to live on just over half the retirement income of their male counterparts, according to research from the Transport and General Workers Union (T&G;). and there have been calls for supposed “pensioner poverty” amongst women to be tackled.

In general, women retire with smaller pensions than men as a result of lower pay and taking time-off work to bring up children or look after relatives.

Age Concern England warned that the government’s report would need to offer solutions rather than merely outlining the pension problems facing women in old age.

“For this report to be worthwhile, it must come up with practical solutions that will be implemented and improve pensions prospects of today’s and tomorrow’s pensioners,” Michelle Mitchell, a spokeswoman said.