The gap between men and women preparing adequately for retirement is widening.

That was the conclusion of a new Scottish Widows Women & Retirement Report.

Certain groups of women are particularly vulnerable – such as the self-employed and divorced –and are lagging behind, researchers said.

Vulnerable self-employed and divorced women slipping behind, with only 36% and 42% respectively saving adequately.

According to the report, about 1.5 million women are self-employed – a 22% increase in four years and twice the rate of self-employed men.

Just over a third (36%) are saving adequately for retirement, compared with 47% of self-employed men and 58% of employed women.

The findings suggested this trend is set to continue, with over three-fifths (62%) of self-employed women claiming they don’t think they will be able to save any more in the next 12 months, compared with less than half (46%) of men in the same position.

Overall, 52% of women are saving adequately for their retirement compared to 60% of men, according to the study.

But while this maintains the record high levels achieved in 2015, the gap between men and women has widened since 2014, when 50% of women were saving adequately compared with 55% of men.

Pessimism levels are also higher among women, with nearly three-fifths (57%) concerned they are not preparing adequately for retirement, compared with only two-fifths (41%) of men.

Only 42% of divorced women said they were saving adequately compared with 47% of divorced men.

Jackie Leiper, retirement expert at Scottish Widows, said: “It is encouraging to see that over half of women are making sufficient savings towards their retirement, but a growing savings gap persists in the UK. It’s vital that we address this to ensure women feel reassured about their finances and prepared for retirement, whether they are self-employed, work for a large employer, are divorced, married or single.”

Elliott Silk, head of employee benefits at Sanlam, said: “The gender pay gap extends to pension savings, with women lagging behind men in their preparations for retirement. Our own research suggests that not only are women behind on their retirement savings, they are also less engaged with their pension pots compared to men. Over 51% of women admitted they did not know how much money was in their pension pot, compared with 32% of men. Even more worrying is the fact that over half of women over 60 said they have not started to consider a financial plan.

“This lack of knowledge and a failure to prepare is a concerning trend. In addition to women tending to live longer than men, maternity leave and other family commitments can mean that they often face more disruptions to their State Pension contributions, putting them at risk of missing out on the full State Pension. It is vital that we encourage women engage with their pensions and understand that they must save as a matter of urgency. Both the advice industry and the government must do more to ensure we don’t see a generation of women finding themselves destitute in retirement.”