Women £6,000 worse off in retirement Low interest rates and quantitative easing (QE) have particularly hit annuity rates, which analysts say has resulted in more than a million pensioners buying an annuity which will pay less for the rest of their lives. Annuity rates are linked to the yields on government bonds, called gilts, which have been dramatically reduced by QE. Analysts have found that a 65-year-old man with £100,000 could have bought a level income of £7,855 in July 2008, but someone in the same situation this year would only receive an income of £5,923, a drop of just under 25%. Vince Smith-Hughes, Prudential's retirement income expert, said: "The pension gender gap appears to be narrowing, but there is still a long way to go. Not only does the gap remain stubbornly wide, but anticipated retirement incomes have this year hit a five-year low for both men and women. The practical steps that women can take to improve their retirement income prospects include maintaining pension contributions during career breaks and, if possible, making voluntary National Insurance contributions after returning to work. The retirement gender gap was found to be widest in the South East, where women retiring this year expect to have £7,878 less income a year on average than men at £12,259 compared with £20,137. It is narrowest in the North West, with women in the region having an income of around £13,087 a year, compared with £15,632 for men, a gap of £2,545.