The gender pensions gap grew to nearly £200,000 this year as the Covid-19 pandemic took a heavy toll on women’s finances, according to new analysis.

The difference between the average pension pots of men and women aged over 55 grew to £184,000 in 2021, or £26,000 more than the previous year, according to research published this week by more2life, an equity release provider.

Around one-third of women who took part in a UK-wide survey that was part of the analysis said their financial situation had worsened since the start of the pandemic in early 2020, hampering their ability to fund or save for later life.

Last year researchers from King’s College London and The Global Institute for Women’s Leadership found that nearly a third of women furloughed since the initial lockdown in March 2020 worked zero hours in July 2020, compared with 20 per cent of their male peers, indicating that female workers were more likely to be furloughed for longer.

This compounded an existing gap in the prospects for a comfortable retirement for men and women.

“Many women have faced job loss or redundancy during the crisis, as they are more likely to work in industries that have been forced to close such as retail and travel,” said the analysis, which was carried out by Opinion Matters, a research group.

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