The pension savings gap between men and women is continuing to rise, according to Prudential, as the difference in annual income now stands at more than £7,400.

A study by the pension provider has found that women planning to retire this year expect to receive an average annual pension of around £12,100, compared to the typical male who expects to collect a pension of more than £19,500 – representing an increase of almost £800 on last year’s figures.

This is despite the average pension income decreasing in the past 12 months by 11 per cent for women and 3.5 per cent for men.

Prudential suggests a key factor behind women receiving a smaller pension than men is the fact that many take a career break to have children. However, Karin Brown, director of pensions and annuities at Prudential, believes there are ways women can reduce this deficit.

“Women could consider trying to keep up any company or private pension contributions even if they are on maternity leave or an extended career break – or ask their spouse or partner to make contributions for them,” she said.

Meanwhile, as the pension gap continues to grow, Prudential has also found that a third of workers, who are delaying saving for retirement because of the financial crisis, believe they will never be able to afford to retire completely, while some people may not be saving a sufficient amount.

Commenting, Karin Brown said: “Although many working people may not be able to remedy this situation at a late stage in their working lives, younger people do have a chance to start building a decent pension pot.

“Prudential believes people should, ideally, start saving for their retirement as early as their twenties or early thirties instead of putting off pension saving until later in life.”

© Fair Investment Company Ltd