Pension gap needs to be plugged

LAST week marked a grim milestone - women pensioners in Britain have, in effect, “stopped” receiving their pension for the year.

- DAVE PIKE

Not because the money has dried up, but because the gender pension gap is so wide that women live four months of every year with nothing, compared to men. On average, that’s £7,600 less in their pockets annually.

Think about that. Four months. Imagine your income being cut off from late August through Christmas while your neighbour carries on as normal.

Here in the North East, where wages are already lower than the national average, the situation bites even harder.

Women who have spent decades juggling work and family are left paying the price of an unfair system that never really counted their contributions - unless those contributions were measured in pounds and pence.