By Alison Steed

NEARLY a quarter of women have stopped or reduced their pension savings and other plans because they are putting their families first.

Less than half of women aged 30-50 work full time, as they have chosen to be at home with their families, and more than a third of women think it is “unrealistic” to expect their partner’s pension to support them sufficiently in retirement.

Alison Morris, savings expert for Scottish Widows, which undertook the research for its Women and Pensions Report 2009, said: "The many women who pause or stop working altogether because of childcare responsibilities are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to pension contributions.

Clearly, women need more flexible working practices to help them juggle their working lives alongside their childcare responsibilities - without these, they'll continue to lag behind men when it comes to saving for the future. We want women to understand the impact that career breaks have on their pensions and encourage them to do what they can to minimise this, such as restarting contributions as soon as they can or by making additional payments before or after they take a break."

With so many women choosing to go part-time when they return to work after having children, it is much harder for them to continue to save consistently for their future. In fact, many women would set equal importance to flexible working as they would to a good pension from an employer.

A third of men admit their wives are financially dependent on them, and four in 10 said their partner does not have a pension, meaning an uncertain future for women who are relying on their spouse to provide for them in retirement.

Ms Morris said: "While women are waking up to the fact that they won't be able to rely on their partner's income to keep them comfortable in retirement, this isn't necessarily translating into pension savings. Nothing is ever certain, and while planning for retirement will probably not be a priority for many women they need to start putting themselves first when it comes to planning for their futures.”