Retired women in the Netherlands receive an average of 40 per cent less from their pension than men, research from Wijzer in Geldzaken has revealed.

Netspar director, Lisa Brüggen, pointed out that the pension gap in the Netherlands is larger than in most countries within the EU, warning that, on average, women have "hundreds of euros less to spend per month after retirement than men".

"This can lead to women getting into trouble when they retire," she stated, notingt aht various factors currently contribute to the pension gap.

"On average, women work fewer (paid) hours than men, which leads to less pension accrual," she explained.

"In addition, women may have to deal with the wage gap, which means that they also accrue pension on a lower salary. Women are also generally less concerned with their financial future than men and have less knowledge of pensions. Finally, they take on more care tasks, which can contribute to a lower pension income. ”

Alongside these factors, the research suggested that women are less concerned with pensions than men and are less aware of their pension situation during their working life.

In particular, the survey found that women said that they take less time to delve into pensions than men (18 per cent compared to 30 per cent).

When asked who knows more about their own pension situation, men were also "significantly" more likely to answer 'I more than my partner', at 47 per cent compared to 24 per cent of women.

It also found that more men than women said they know how pensions are arranged in the Netherlands (44 per cent compared to 28 per cent) and how much income they will receive after retirement (49 per cent compared to 37 per centof women).

But broader awareness remains a concern, as whilst ensions awareness has increased considerably in recent years, with 72 per cent of the Dutch considering themselves 'pension-aware', up from 61 per cent 10 years ago, misconceptions around the gender pension gap persist,

Indeed, almost half (48 per cent) of Dutch people are not aware that the pension income for women is lower than for men, and believed that women receive about the same or even more pension.

Women were more concerned about the impact of the gender pensions gap, as while just over half of women (52 per cent) find the pension gap "very worrying", less than a third (30 per cent) of men have the same concerns.

Furthermore, nearly three quarters of women (74 per cent) found it very important that this gap is closed, compared to just over half (57 per cent) of men.

When asked about the ways in which the gender gap could be narrowed, survey reponsents were particularly positive about calls for clearer communication from employers or pension providers about the consequences for pensions if they work less.

Indeed, APG chair, Annette Mosman, argued that awareness of the gender pension gap is an important factor in closing the gap.

"Everyone must realise the consequences of the choices they make now for their income later; working less now not only means less salary now, but also less pension later," she stated.

"The responsibility for this lies with the women (and their environment) themselves, but also with the government, pension providers and employers, to properly inform women about the long-term consequences of working part-time, about the other causes of the pension gap and about the possibilities that exist to supplement the pension income. ”

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