One 24 per cent of divorce women save into a pension

Corbis

Divorced women are missing out on a total of £5 billion by not discussing pensions during their marriage break-up, a survey has found. 

Some 71 per cent of couples do not discuss pensions at all in divorce as they are more concerned about the future of a pet, according to the YouGov survey of more than 5,000 adults, commissioned by Scottish Widows.

As a result women are disproportionately short-changed. Only 24 per cent of divorced women surveyed were saving into a pension and 48 per cent were ignorant as to what happens to pensions when couples divorce. 

Nigel Shepherd, a partner at the national firm Mills & Reeve who is also chairman of Resolution, the family lawyers organisation, said: “Pension sharing was introduced almost two decades ago, but it is clear that all too often in a divorce pensions are still not being taken into account properly or at all.

“The problem has been made very much worse by the fact that so few people are now entitled to legal aid and are having to negotiate the minefield of financial issues on divorce without even basic legal advice. This is storing up real problems down the line, in particular for women.”