It is clear that the pandemic is more than just a health crisis, but an economic one too. Since the lockdown was introduced in March, millions of people have been furloughed or made redundant. And not only is the financial fallout of coronavirus affecting women more severely than men, it will continue to impact their savings for years to come.

Prior to the virus, women only saved a third of the amount that men do by the time they reached retirement. This is primarily because of the time taken out of their careers to have children and pay inequality. In 2019, women in their 60s had an average of £51,100 ($67,415) in their private pension pots while men had £156,500, according to the Pensions Policy Institute.

The coronavirus pandemic is likely to exacerbate the gender savings gap even further, research by Aegon has found — with a greater proportion of women saying they will decrease pension contributions in the next six months. Women are more likely to stop contributions and less likely to use any fall in markets to invest more, the study found, both of which could widen rather than reduce the pension gap between men and women.

In total, 15% of women said they were likely to decrease pension contributions in the next six months, compared to 10% of men. This is, in part, due to the financial challenges COVID-19 has brought for women.

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