More than 14 million people in the United Kingdom (UK) are currently living in poverty, and the number of people experiencing deep poverty is increasing (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2024).
We worked with the Mental Health Foundation and researchers from the University of Strathclyde on this report, where we examine how experiences of poverty stigma are related to mental health outcomes in the UK.
Our aim was to understand the impact of poverty stigma and who is most affected in order to inform solutions.
Today is Gender Pension Gap Day – the point of the year from which, if women received their pension at the same rate as men, they wouldn’t get another penny until January.
The fact that we reach this point in the middle of the summer holidays is a stark illustration of the levels of inequality in our pension system.
At just under 37.9 per cent, the gender pension gap is much wider than the gender pay gap and, according to annual research by Prospect, it has barely budged in recent years (it stood at 40.7 per cent in 2015-16 when the trade union started measuring it).
The result is that, taking into account all forms of pension, retired women today have incomes around £7,000 a year lower than retired men.
What causes the gender pensions gap?
There are three main drivers of the gender pensions gap:
Different lifetime working patterns that mean women are more likely to take time out of the labour market or work part-time, most often because of unpaid caring responsibilities
The gender pay gap, exacerbated by a workplace pension system that excludes many low earners altogether
Differing levels of state pension entitlement
The impact of unpaid caring
Previous TUC analysis has highlighted the role of the pay gap – and a workplace pension system that excludes many low earners – in leaving women poorer in retirement.
But the most significant factor in the wildly unequal pension outcomes for men and women is the first bullet point – women are much more likely than men to spend time out of work or working part-time because of caring commitments than men.
This matters because our pension system is designed so that the typical worker will get around half the retirement income they need from the State Pension and half from a workplace pension.
National Insurance credits generally recognise the value of unpaid work such as caring so that people continue to build up state pension entitlement, but those out of paid work stop building up their workplace pension.
These contribution gaps are the biggest factor in women with a defined contribution pension approaching retirement having a pension pot less than half the size of men on average.
How wide is the ‘economic activity gap’?
New TUC analysis shows that women are vastly more likely than men to be out of paid work – and therefore unlikely to be building up a workplace pension – because of caring responsibilities.
This disparity can be seen in every age group, and is particularly wide for groups who face additional barriers in the labour market, such as disabled women and BME women.
Overall, women are 4.5 times more likely than men to be economically inactive – the Office for National Statistics’ term for people neither in or looking paid work – because of caring responsibilities.
The chart below shows that rates of economic activity due to caring responsibilities peak between the ages of 25 and 44, with more than one in 11 women aged 35-39 in this category.
The gap is highest in the late 20s, with women aged 25-29 more than 14 times more likely than male counterparts to be out of paid work because of caring commitments.
Source: TUC analysis of ONS Labour Force Survey, Q1 2024
This is perhaps unsurprising, with working mums much more likely to take time off work to look after kids.
It has a particularly large impact on pension saving, however. These are the years when workers typically have higher incomes than when they are just starting out, meaning their pension contributions are greater, but they are also far from retirement, so those contributions will remain invested for longer and have more time to grow.
The charts below show that BME women are particularly likely to be affected. While white women are four times more likely than men to be out of work looking after a loved one, the figure rises to 6.4 times more likely for BME women.
Source: TUC analysis of ONS Labour Force Survey, Q1 2024
And the chart below shows that people who are themselves disabled, are also much more likely to be out of the labour market because of caring responsibilities to others.
Disabled women are almost nine times more likely than non-disabled men to be in this position.
Source: TUC analysis of ONS Labour Force Survey, Q1 2024
Tackling the gender pension gap
The TUC has long called on governments to get serious about measuring the gender pension gap, and set out a plan to reduce it.
But this is only the first step, and the new government must build on this by setting out a comprehensive plan to reduce the gap
The recently announced Pensions Review is a great opportunity to do this, and we believe this should include an explicit strand on tackling pensions inequality.
But the figures above make clear that it will be difficult to improve women’s retirement incomes without improving the way our pension system recognises the value of unpaid care work.
This would require replacing the workplace pension contributions lost by those out of paid work, and there have been a number of proposals to introduce a Carers Credit that would dothis.
We believe the most straightforward way of doing this is for those out of the labour market with a young child and registered carers to build up additional State Pension, on top of the flat-rate New State Pension.
This would be essentially reintroducing a feature that was removed in 2016. Before this point, people looking after children under 12 and registered for child benefit built up State Second Pension credit in addition to a credit towards the basic state pension.
When it was removed this credit was worth an extra £1.80 a week in pension in 2015-16 terms. So a worker who took five years out of paid work to raise kids, for example, would have built up almost £500 a year in additional State Pension over these years to plug the gap in their workplace pension contributions.
There is no single policy that would fix the gender pension gap, but introducing (or reintroducing) a Carers Credit would be a very significant step in the right direction.
Mental Wellbeing Minster Maree Todd has described a rise in the number of probable suicides last year as “distressing”, saying the increase is driving a determination to deliver change.
National Records of Scotland figures show there were 792 probable suicides in 2023 – an increase of 30 on the previous year.
The Scottish Government is taking action jointly with COSLA to reduce the number of deaths by suicide. This ensures government and local services work together to support anyone at risk of suicide or affected by it, while tackling underlying factors that can lead to suicide, such as inequalities, stigma and discrimination, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic and cost of living crisis.
Self-harm is also a risk factor for suicide and last year saw the launch of the world’s first action plan focussed solely on tackling the issue. This includes funding for a new service where anyone affected by self-harm can get compassionate support, without fear of stigma or discrimination.
Mental Wellbeing Minister Maree Todd said: “This report makes for distressing reading and my sincere condolences go out to all those who have been affected by the loss of a loved one by suicide.
“I am determined that together with COSLA and other partners we reduce the number of deaths by suicide and improve the nation’s mental health as a whole.
“The ambition and innovation in Scotland’s suicide prevention approach is widely recognised. However, we know there is always more to do.
“We are working hard with communities and services to help people talk more openly about suicide and offer compassionate support. We are prioritising reaching more people at higher risk of suicide, including those living in poverty, middle aged men, and LGBT communities.
“We are launching an online portal to ensure people feeling suicidal know where to go for help. The introduction of suicide reviews this year will also help us spot missed opportunities to support people and importantly use that learning to redesign services.
“Our wider actions around Mental Health are also helping to prevent suicide. They include funding more than 800 additional mental health workers in A&E departments, GP practices, police custody suites and prisons, and investing in our Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund which prioritises suicide prevention and social isolation projects.”
Chair of the Scottish Government’s Suicide Prevention Academic Advisory Group Professor Rory O’Connor said: “Similar to other countries, sadly an increase is not unexpected given the challenges of recent years, including the cost of living crisis and the economic downturn which have led to financial and social hardship for so many.
“Every single death is heartbreaking, leaving behind devastated families, friends and communities. We need to continue to do everything we can to ensure that those at risk of suicide receive the care and support that they need when they need it.”
COSLA President, Councillor Shona Morrison said: “As the voice of Local Government in Scotland, COSLA has taken a strong position on the importance of the mental health and wellbeing of our communities and the need to tackle inequalities that contribute to suicide risk.
“There is a considerable amount of work taking place across local areas in Scotland which supports delivery of the Suicide Prevention Strategy.
“We firmly believe that no death by suicide is acceptable, and we remain committed to working in partnership with Scottish Government to realise the ambitions of our joint strategy ‘Creating Hope Together’ to reduce deaths by suicide, whilst tackling the inequalities which contribute to suicide.”
Anyone affected by these issues can access support from the following services:
