YOUNG women will typically need to work nearly 40 years longer than men to reach pensions equality, according to Scottish Widows.

Younger female savers can expect to have £100,000 less on average in their retirement pots than their male counterparts, the pensions company said.

Lower average earnings, part-time work and taking time out of paid employment to care for family mean women would take nearly four decades to catch up with men.

It said that as International Women’s Day (March 8) highlights the progress made in gender equality, there is still some way to go before the pensions gap closes.

To reach retirement parity, a woman currently in her 20s will have to work 37 years longer than a man of the same age to accumulate the same income, it said.

The figures are taken from the most recent Scottish Widows women and retirement report.

Jackie Leiper, of Scottish Widows, said: “We know that young women have been some of the hardest hit by the short-term financial impact of the [coronavirus] pandemic, and this has only exacerbated the challenge of reaching pensions parity.”