Personal21 September 2026

The gender pension gap: why divorce can quietly make it wider

Partner — Head of Family

A row of Victorian terraced houses on the Lowestoft seafront — the family home or the pension on divorce

Most of us have heard of the gender pay gap. If you're a woman, there's a real chance you earn less than the men you work alongside. Sadly, that difference doesn't end when you stop working. It follows you into retirement.

This is the gender pension gap.

What is the gender pension gap?

Put simply, it's the difference between what men and women have saved in their pensions. It starts early and grows over time. Government figures show a gap of 22% for people in their late twenties. By their late forties, it has reached 52%.¹

By the time people are nearing retirement, the difference is hard to ignore. According to the Department for Work and Pensions, women aged 55 to 59 have a typical private pension worth £81,000. For men of the same age, it's £156,000. That's a gap of 48%.¹ In real terms, the DWP estimates this could mean a yearly income of around £6,000 for a woman, compared with around £11,000 for a man.¹

Those figures only count people who have a private pension at all. Once you include people with no private pension savings, the gap rises to 62%.¹

This matters. The Women's Budget Group reports that 57% of pensioners living in poverty are women.²

The causes we tend to talk about

When the gender pension gap comes up, the conversation usually centres on a few familiar causes. Women are more likely to earn less. They are more likely to take career breaks to raise children. And they are more likely to work part time, especially from their thirties onwards, when childcare often shapes working life.¹

Time out to raise a family can have a bigger effect than many people expect. Research by Octopus Money found that more than a third of parents cut back or paused their pension contributions during parental leave. Yet 63% didn't know their partner could pay into their pension for them.³

All of these play a part. But there's another factor that often gets overlooked.

Divorce.

The home or the pension?

During divorce negotiations, it's common for one person to keep the family home while the other keeps their pension. More often than not, it's the woman who keeps the home.

That's completely understandable. Staying in the family home can give children stability at a time when so much else is changing. They keep their bedroom, their school run and their routines.

On the surface, it can seem like the obvious choice.

What's less obvious is what you might be giving up in return.

The family home is something you can see. You live in it. You know roughly what it's worth. A pension is different. It's a number on a statement, linked to a retirement that may feel a long way off.

Many people don't realise pensions can be part of a divorce settlement at all. Research by the Money and Pensions Service found that only four in ten UK adults knew this.⁴

But a pension is much more than a figure on paper. It can mean decades of future income, security and independence in later life. For many couples, it's one of the most valuable things they have built up during their marriage.

Why pensions get forgotten

When you're going through a divorce, you're rarely thinking about life in 20 or 30 years' time. Your focus is on getting through the here and now: where you'll live, how you'll manage, and how to support your children through it all.

So pensions can easily become an afterthought.

The research suggests this happens a lot. A study by Mercer, now:pensions and the Pensions Policy Institute, published in January 2026, found that 71% of divorce settlements don't take pensions into account. Housing and property are often put first instead.⁵

The same research found that divorced women have typical pension savings of £32,640. For divorced men, the figure is £85,800.⁵ And because women tend to live longer, their pension often has to stretch further; around 17 years in retirement compared with around 13 for men.^2,5

This is one of the less talked-about ways the gender pension gap grows. It may begin during working life. But it can widen sharply at the point of divorce if pensions aren't properly considered.

Looking beyond the house

That's why it's so important to look past the immediate value of the family home and understand what your pensions are really worth over the long term.

Getting specialist advice, and a proper valuation of any pensions, can make a real difference. It means you can make decisions with the full picture in front of you, and reach an outcome that's fair.

The family home is often where life carries on after divorce.

A pension may decide what life looks like decades later.

Both matter. Both have value. And no one should make a decision about one without understanding the true worth of the other.

A divorce settlement isn't only about meeting today's needs. It's about protecting your security for the years ahead too.

Separating and worried about your pension?

Pensions can be among the most valuable things a couple owns, but they only count if they are properly valued, fully disclosed and fairly considered before anything is agreed. Once a financial order has been sealed by the court, it can be almost impossible to unpick.

We offer an initial fixed-fee appointment of £200 plus VAT (£240). In that meeting with a senior solicitor you will know where you stand; how pensions could be dealt with in your circumstances, what the options are, and what to think about before you agree to anything. Where pensions are involved, we work alongside pension experts, so your decisions are based on a proper valuation rather than a guess. We will make sure you understand your options fully, so the settlement you reach works for you now and in the years ahead.

If you would like to book an appointment or simply talk it through first, please call us, email us or visit our contact page.

Kate Jackson leads the family law team at Nicholsons and advises regularly on finances on divorce and separation, including pensions, for clients across Norfolk, Suffolk and beyond. If you would like to speak to Kate directly, please call 01603 558 713 or email kjackson@nicholsonslaw.com.