Auto-enrolment in pensions will not address the inequality faced by women in the system and may even make it worse, the National Women’s Council has warned.

The new scheme, due to start next September, is the biggest reform to the Irish pension system since the 1960s and aims to massively increase the take-up of workplace pensions.

However, a report for the National Women’s Council prepared by TASC (Thinktank for Action on Social Change) says while the new scheme is likely to increase occupational pensions for those in work, it is unlikely to have an impact in tackling the gender pension gap – around 35% – and may exacerbate it.

National Women’s Council director Orla O’Connor said: “As one of the biggest reforms of our pension system in decades, the new pension auto - enrolment scheme fails to address the deep inequalities in our pension system.

“The 35% gender pension gap has a significant impact on women’s lives in older age, alongside the legacy of structural discriminations like the marriage bar.

“As well as much lower pension incomes, older women are more likely to live alone than men, and more likely to live in low-quality housing.

“By tying pension entitlement even closer to paid employment, auto-enrolment leaves out the importance of unpaid care yet again, which impacts women much more than men.

“As auto-enrolment will only apply to people in paid employment with earnings over a certain threshold, all other forms of social participation will not be taken into account, which is really disappointing to see.”

There is no significant gender difference in occupational pension coverage for those in paid employment.

But the report found less than half (43%) of workers currently have no occupational pension, described as “comparatively low overall”.

The report added: “However, there is a big gender difference in the value of individual occupational pensions, and the new scheme is unlikely to change this.

“This is because the focus of the auto-enrolment scheme is on paid employment, leaving out supports for unpaid care and other forms of social participation, and because men tend to contribute more to occupational pensions.

“Women, however, are more likely to take time out from paid employment to take on unpaid care work.

“Women are also more likely to be in low-pay, part-time employment and therefore tend to contribute less to occupational pensions.”

Auto-enrolment aims to address the low take-up by automatically enrolling all workers aged 23 to 60, who earn more than €20,000 and are not currently enrolled in a pension scheme, into a private pension scheme.

The report also found women over 65’s income is around half that of men’s, largely down to the fact they have less in pension savings with many leaving the workforce early to raise children.

The National Women’s Council economic equality coordinator Donal Swan said: “The new scheme will do nothing to improve the pensions of many low-paid, part-time earners and those not in paid employment and will potentially set us on a path towards increasing rather than reducing the gender pension gap.

“NWC is calling on the next government to focus on improving inequalities in our pension system, by increasing both coverage and level of the State pension with a view to developing a Universal Pension that is adequate for all.”