Women hitting the wall

According to a new survey, almost half of women stop contributing to a pension plan when they have a child.

Even before the prospect of a family is on the horizon, only 31% of women are planning for their old age, compared with 51% of men.

The study suggests that caring for a child is a major factor in the descision wether or not to have a pension plan. Only 15% of women who are caring for a child under the age of 5 are saving for their old age.

Of those with older children, aged 6-15, only 17% or mothers are paying into a pension scheme.

COnsidering that women generally earn less than men, anyway, this means that there are around 6 million women in the UK who are dependent on their husbands, as they are more likely to work part time, or to give up their career to care for children or elderly relatives.

"When you have a pensions system that overlooks the needs of women, it should come as no surprise to find so many women living on low incomes in retirement," said Ian Naismith, head of pension market development at Scottish Widows.

"We need major change within the state and private pensions systems to make it more feasible for women to save and make it more attractive for them to do so."