Women are expected to start receiving larger state pension payments than men from next year in a major reversal of the historic gender gap. For decades, women have typically received less from the state pension than men, partly because they were more likely to have gaps in their National Insurance records after taking time away from work to care for children. But the gap has been closing under the new State Pension system and is now expected to swing the other way for people retiring from early 2027.
Official figures show narrowing gap
Official Department for Work and Pensions figures show how close payments have already become. As of March 2026, men receiving the new State Pension got an average of £217.99 a week, compared with £214.54 for women. That is a much smaller difference than under the old system. Among people receiving the pre-2016 State Pension, men currently get an average £225.11 a week compared with £195.97 for women.
Former minister expects women to overtake
Sir Steve Webb, former pensions minister and partner at pension consultancy LCP, told the Mail on Sunday he “firmly” expects women to overtake men for the "first time in the coming months." Sir Steve, who helped design the new system, added: "For generations, women have been the poor relations when it came to the state pension system. The post-war system was built around an assumption that men were the main breadwinners and women would be financially dependent upon them, not needing a pension in their own right."
"A key aim of the new state pension was to remove this discrimination and treat men and women equally."
New system and caring credits
The new State Pension was introduced in April 2016 and changed how people's entitlement is calculated. One reason women have caught up is better recognition of years spent caring for children or other people. National Insurance credits can protect someone's state pension record during periods when they are not working or paying National Insurance.
The Government said last year that women reaching State Pension age were already receiving around 99% of the amount paid to men under the newer system. However, the improvement in state pension payments does not mean the wider pensions gap has disappeared.
Wider pension wealth gap remains
Research published this month by the Pensions Policy Institute found women aged between 55 and 59 have just 54% of the pension wealth held by men of the same age. People can check their State Pension forecast online to see how much they are currently on track to receive. The amount someone eventually gets will depend on their own National Insurance record, meaning the average figures for men and women do not determine what an individual pensioner will receive.
