Why women in the North East can’t afford to grow old poor

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. That is the reality of retirement for millions of women.

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.

The reasons aren’t new, but they’re stubborn. Women are far more likely to take time out of paid work to look after children, elderly relatives, or disabled family members. Across the UK, women are five times more likely than men to be out of work because of caring duties. For Black and Minority Ethnic women and disabled women, that figure is even starker. Here in our communities, where kinship care and unpaid care are woven into daily life, those statistics feel painfully familiar.

Women earn less than men throughout their working lives. Many work part-time in lower-paid roles that still demand every ounce of skill and graft. Worse, three times as many women as men earn below the £10,000 threshold needed to be automatically enrolled into a workplace pension. In plain terms: they’re working, but the system doesn’t think they’re working “enough” to deserve a pension top-up.

The pension gap now sits at 36.5% – more than double the current gender pay gap. Last week’s pension pots reflect decades of inequality, retired women are left struggling to keep the heating on or to buy Christmas presents for the grandkids.

The government has recently revived the Pensions Commission, which brings together unions, employers and experts. That’s welcome – but women in the North East can’t wait another generation for fairness. We need action now.

Scrapping the £10,000 pension auto-enrolment threshold would be a start. So would paying pension contributions from the first pound earned, not after some arbitrary line. Crucially, recognising unpaid care for what it is: work. Introducing a proper Carer’s Credit into the pension system would at least acknowledge the years of labour women put in and outside the workplace.

We pride ourselves in the North East on looking out for each other. But solidarity shouldn’t mean our mothers, sisters, and daughters carry on bearing the brunt of a broken system. Retirement should be a time to rest, not another chapter of struggle.

The gender pension gap isn’t just a statistic. It’s a question of dignity. And right now, women deserve better.

First published in the Journal (Newcastle-upon-Tyne), 25 August 2025