DWP Pension Review: 39-Week Contribution Gap Hits Women's Workplace Savings

For HR and benefits teams, the DWP's new focus on female pension gaps turns statutory maternity pay rules into a strategic workforce issue. If your organisation only pays the legal minimum, employees taking unpaid leave after week 39 stop accruing pension contributions for up to 12 weeks — and those who don't qualify for paid leave lose employer contributions after just 26 weeks. Reviewing family leave policies against these benchmarks is now a retention and equality imperative.

On 12 September 2026, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) signalled that it will examine a series of pension reform recommendations, with a specific focus on pension contributions for women during family leave. The announcement, reported through syndicated regional outlets, names Torsten Bell, Parliamentary Secretary at HM Treasury, as the minister who says there are 'significant gaps' in the current system. While the reports do not quantify the size of those gaps, the mechanism behind them is clear from the statutory rules.

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For HR and benefits teams, the DWP's new focus on female pension gaps turns statutory maternity pay rules into a strategic workforce issue.

Under current rules, if an employee is eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), family leave is generally paid by the employer for up to 39 weeks, roughly nine months. During this period, both employer and employee workplace pension contributions typically continue as usual. The People's Pension guidance cited in the reports states that employer contributions should be based on the employee's pre-maternity-leave salary, which protects the contribution level while pay may be reduced. However, if an employee chooses to take unpaid leave, all pension contributions ordinarily stop. That means for maternity or adoption leave, weeks 40 to 52—a 12-week stretch—can create a hard stop in retirement saving. Employees who do not qualify for any paid leave face an even earlier cliff edge: employer contributions generally continue only for the first 26 weeks, about six months, even if they receive Maternity Allowance, because that benefit is paid by the government rather than the employer.

The policy review's focus on women is not incidental. Women are more likely to take maternity and family leave, more likely to work part-time after returning, and more likely to fall below the auto-enrolment earnings trigger at some point in their careers. Each period of unpaid leave compounds into lower pension pots. The DWP's decision to scrutinise contribution continuity suggests ministers are weighing whether the current 39-week and 26-week lines are adequate or whether new mechanisms—such as state pension credits for unpaid leave, employer contribution top-ups, or automatic enrolment during Maternity Allowance—are needed. The fact that a Treasury minister rather than a DWP pensions minister is quoted may indicate that the review has cross-departmental fiscal implications.

For employers, the immediate takeaway is operational. Many employers provide enhanced family leave pay beyond SMP; those that do not may inadvertently create a retirement savings gap for their female workforce. HR and payroll teams must ensure that pension contribution calculations during leave follow the correct base pay, and that they communicate to employees what happens after week 39. The 26-week rule for those without paid leave is often misunderstood, especially for employees receiving Maternity Allowance, who might assume government support covers pension contributions when it does not.