Nearly 1 in 2 women over 50 say running out of money during retirement is one of their biggest financial concerns, compared to only 1 in 3 men of the same age.

According to a survey of over-50s by provider SunLife, women over 50 are only half as likely as men over 50 to have no money worries at all.

In addition, a third of older women were worried about how their children or grandchildren are coping financially, compared to less than 1 in 4 men.

SunLife says that its survey of 2,000 consumers suggests overall that women over 50 are far more worried about money than men of the same age.

SunLife’s Life Well Spent report surveyed more than 2,000 people over the age of 50. It found that 44% of women say that running out of money during retirement is one of the financial concerns that worries them the most. Only 36% of men have the same concern.

Women over 50 are also more anxious about the current cost of living crisis – 8 in 10 (79%) said rising costs were a major concern for them, compared to 7 in 10 (71%) of men.

Women are also more worried about paying for long-term care with 25% having concerns compared to only 19% of men).

Overall, just 1 in 14 (7%) women over 50 have no financial worries at all – half the number of men of the same age who are money-worry-free (15%).

Financial Worries for over-50s

 Source: Sun Life survey of 2,000 consumers over 50

SunLife’s study also found that while men and women over 50 were equally likely to have given a significant cash gift to family over the past 5 years (1 in 4), women were more likely to have done so to help family out.

Some 1 in 4 women have helped family following job loss or reduced income, compared to 1 in 5 men. And women gave more – £4,681 vs £2,585.

Of those who have gifted cash, 25% of women over 50 gave money to family following the birth of a child – gifting £2,522 on average compared to 20% of men who gave £1,464 on average.

The survey also revealed that of the 1 in 25 women over 50 who have released equity from their home, 19% did so to give gifts to family, compared to 10% of men.

• A separate survey by the Pensions Management Institute (PMI) found that women were most worried about breaks in employment, mainly due to raising children, causing a significantly detrimental impact on their pension savings. The research also revealed that just 36% of working women know how much they have saved in their pension. The average pension savings for those women who do know how much they have saved is £23,959. Only 4% of female employees have saved more than £55,000 in pension savings.