Speaking at the launch of the 8th annual gender pension gap report, UNISON’s national secretary for equalities, Gloria Mills (pictured above), said public sector schemes remain essential to securing retirement incomes for women.
The report from the Prospect union, described significant progress in narrowing the gap, including improvements to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) introduced in April 2026.
These changes, particularly around maternity leave, were highlighted as a model for addressing disparities faced by carers.
However, proposals from Reform UK to remove access to public service pension schemes for new entrants from 2030 were criticised as a significant threat.
Ms Mills said such plans could reverse years of progress. “These pensions are hardly gold-plated,” she noted, pointing out that more than half of NHS pensioners receive just £5,000 a year.
“But combined with the state pension, they are crucial in securing decent retirement incomes for public service workers – the majority of whom are women. Any attack on public service pension schemes is primarily an attack on the retirement incomes of women.”
She also raised concerns about the potential impact of policies opposing flexible and remote working, warning they could further limit women’s participation in the workforce and reduce their future pension entitlements.
Public service pension schemes were described as reliable and inflation-linked, based on pay and length of service rather than investment performance. Ms Mills argued they remain “affordable and sustainable” and pointed to union involvement in governance as key to addressing inequalities within the system.
Recent LGPS reforms mean the final 13 weeks of unpaid maternity leave will now count towards pension accrual without requiring contributions. UNISON is calling for similar provisions to be extended to NHS workers.
Ms Mills added that unions would continue working across the sector to protect and improve pension provision, however she warned: “We are concerned about Reform UK’s hostility to flexible working and the ability to work from home. Such attitudes could further disadvantage women in regard to employment participation, and beyond that, to entitlement to a decent retirement income. We will hold Reform to account.”
The post Pension reforms could widen gender gap appeared first on UNISON National.
Comments are closed.