TODAY marks gender pensions pay gap day when retired women effectively go for four months a year without a pension if it was paid at the same rate as men.

Retired women get a third less pension than men, an income gap of more than £7,000 a year, according to union research.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak demanded “a bold plan” to deal with the gap as a study from Prospect union found it stands at 32.9 per cent, more than double the gender pay gap.

The TUC said disparities were due in large part to women taking on unpaid caring responsibilities, facing the gender pay gap throughout their working lives and historic differences in how the state pension is administered.

Referring to the Pensions Commission’s interim report published in May, the TUC leader said it had “exposed how and why so many women are at risk of poverty in retirement. Now the Commission must come up with a bold plan to close the gender pensions gap for good.

“The government must grasp this opportunity to make sure everyone receives the decent retirement income that all workers need and deserve.”

Mr Nowak added: “Right now, too many retired women have been left without enough to get by – often because they spent time raising children and caring for loved ones through their working lives.

“And many women in work don’t get any sort of workplace pension at all because they don’t earn enough – frequently because of working part-time.”

The TUC called for reform in the workplace pension system so it takes into account people on low pay and part-time workers, adding that “women with caring responsibilities should build up extra state pension to recognise the value of that work.”