Women could soon receive bigger state pension payments than men for the first time in almost 80 years, marking a historic turnaround in retirement incomes.
The gap between the sexes has narrowed to just 36p a week, with women now on course to overtake men as early as next year.
For decades, men received thousands of pounds more in state pension payments over the course of their retirement, largely because they typically earned higher salaries and spent longer in work.
Under the old state pension system, introduced in 1948, this left many women receiving significantly smaller payments than men.
However, reforms introduced in 2016 were designed to make the system fairer, and the difference between men’s and women’s pensions has steadily narrowed over the past decade.
The latest Department for Work and Pensions figures show that women who started claiming the new state pension this year receive an average of just 36p less per week than men. That works out at a difference of only £18.72 a year.
The gap is slightly wider among older pensioners. Women who retired a year earlier, and are now aged 67, receive around £1 less per week than men of the same age.
Among those who reached state pension age five years ago, and are now 71, men still receive an average of £322 more a year.
Sir Steve Webb, the former pensions minister who helped design the new state pension and is now a partner at pension consultancy LCP, said women could soon overtake men.
He told the Mail on Sunday: “I firmly expect women to overtake men for the first time in the coming months.”
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Sir Steve added: “A key aim of the new state pension was to remove this discrimination and treat men and women equally.”
The gap has been narrowing thanks to the gradual phasing out of so-called “transitional protections.”
When the new flat-rate pension replaced the old system, anyone who had already accumulated a larger entitlement under the earnings-related top-up known as Serps was allowed to keep that higher amount.
Because men were far more likely to have built up substantial Serps entitlements before 2016, they benefited disproportionately from these protections.
Women are set to receive LARGER state pensions on average than men from next year
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GETTYFive years ago, more than one in four men reaching state pension age had such a protection, compared with just 14 per cent of women. This year, the figures have fallen to one in five men and one in ten women.
As Sir Steve explained: “With every passing year they become less relevant, because it gets harder and harder to have built up a big Serps pension by 2016 the younger you are.”
Experts also believe men now face a greater risk of gaps in their National Insurance records, which could push their average payments below those of women.
Despite this progress for new retirees, millions of older women already receiving the pre-2016 pension continue to face a considerable shortfall.
Women on the old state pension currently receive £196 per week on average, £29 less than men, amounting to a gap of £1,515 a year.
The broader private pensions picture remains unequal too. Research published this month by the Pensions Policy Institute found that women aged 55 to 59 hold just 54 per cent of the pension wealth accumulated by men in the same age group.
Sir Steve reflected: “Things are changing. Many women lived in a world where it was assumed that they would be financially dependent. It’s the campaigning of women over decades that has gotten us to this point.”