Elderly Females Losing Out Financially In Divorce

Women are settling for below what they are entitled to in a divorce, and struggling later as a result according to figures from Scottish Widows.

Divorce settlements are increasing the likelihood of divorce hardship due to the fact that women often fail to claim any of the pension funds and struggle later on in life as a result, with women working for more years than males before they are entitled to receive their pension.

According to figures, males obtain over 27% more in a pension fund throughout their working life due to salary gaps and women taking maternity leave.

Facing Hardship

Scottish Widow figures show that 20% of women will suffer financial hardship as a result of not claiming any percentage of the pension. 84% of women omit the pension when having a financial settlement.

Sarah Tory, financial adviser at Shepherd and Wedderburn Financial in Edinburgh, said: “Pensions are in most cases our biggest asset outside the family home.

“Someone who has been making pension provision for many years can have accumulated several tens if not hundreds of thousands of pounds in pension funds.”

“The party who kept the house may find that when they want to retire they have to downsize considerably to generate income and the pension owner may struggle to get on the property ladder with no liquid assets.”

Ageing Trend

The average of divorce has increased in the UK, as well as the average number of divorces, with the UK having the second highest rate in the EU.

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