When the Pensions Advisory Service (Opas) opened a special helpline for women, it revealed a concerning indication of the financial problems women are set to encounter in retirement. 

Seven out of 10 callers to the Opas line had no private pension savings set up, and 80% of those people were over 50 years old, approaching retirement with only the state pension to rely on for income. 

What's more, due to career breaks, part-time working and patchy national insurance contributions after taking time off work to look after children, only 16% of women will receive a full basic state pension on the basis of their own contributions. By contrast, some 78% of men qualify for the full state pension. 

Based on the calls received by the helpline, women were confused about their entitlement to the state pension, with a quarter of calls coming from women wanting clarification on the level of pension they could expect to receive. 

Malcolm McLean, chief executive of Opas, said: "As women traditionally have lower paid jobs and take time away from work for child rearing, they tend to have lower pensions. We are here to offer expert and unbiased advice to women, and men, to help them better understand their pension position and how they might improve it."