More than half of all working women have no pension and those who do are at risk of an impoverished retirement as they are saving less than men, according to a new survey.
Research by life insurer New Ireland shows that at retirement, the projected fund is likely to be on average €28,750 higher for males than for females with pension provision.
As a result, male customers will enjoy an annual pension of €2,863 per annum more than their female counterparts.
Improved life expectancy will put increasing pressure on the pension system as today's workers can expect to spend around one-third of their adult lives in retirement with little prospect of increasing their real income.
Women are particularly affected by the lack of pension coverage as they have a longer life expectancy than men, and therefore will need to save more during their working years to fund adequately for their retirement years
Pension requirements are also typically different for women as many will start a family, take maternity leave, and some may also take a career break for a number of years, leading to inadequate funding for retirement.
According to James Skehan of New Ireland, the problem is particularly acute among single women as only 41.2 per cent of this group have their own pension.
Almost 90 per cent of the Irish population believe that the State Pension, at just €179 per week, is not enough to meet their needs in retirement. Yet only half of the workforce has put plans in place to provide for our future once we retire.
Mr Skehan urged all workers to begin saving for retirement as early as possible as the cost of funding an adequate pension doubles every seven years.
"In addition, by delaying saving towards your retirement, you're missing out on the growth which you investment fund could be building up. This can be significant," he said.