WOMEN GET a raw deal when it comes to pensions: the average woman can expect to retire on an income of just £11,291, around half the typical annual retirement income of a man at £20,790, according to figures from Prudential. Worse, Help the Aged calculates that about 66% of pensioners in poverty are women.

Why are women the pensions underclass? Laith Khalaf of Hargreaves Lansdown, an independent financial adviser, says: "There are probably two main reasons why women tend to be at a financial disadvantage in retirement. First, they typically take more career breaks than men to bring up children or care for elderly relatives. Second, they earn less than men, which has an impact on their pension savings."

Women's average hourly pay is 17.2% less than men's, according to the Office for National Statistics. And the pay gap causes a pension gap: only 41% of women are saving enough into their pension, compared with 54% of men, according to Scottish Widows.

It's not just about earnings. Men who are in work are more likely to belong to their company pension scheme than women - 35% of women do not have any pension scheme compared to 22% of men.Also, men save 10.3% of their earnings on average, compared with women who save 9.3%.

Employers don't help, contributing more money into male employees' pension schemes.The typical employer contributions are worth 6.5% of annual salary to a man, compared with just 5.7% for a woman.

Ian Naismith, head of pensions market development at Scottish Widows, says: "As well as earning less, women are saving less for their futures than men.And even the women who are saving in a pension are saving a smaller percentage of what they earn - effectively compounding the effect of the pay gap, and making the gender pensions gap' even wider."

Then there's the career break, which can kill a pension. For example, a woman who worked from age 25 to 65 and paid £100 a month into a pension could expect to build up a retirement fund of £101,270. If the same woman had a child when she was 35 and took a five-year career break, at 65 she would have a pension fund of £80,664.

But women often need a bigger retirement fund than men to generate the same pension income. If you have a personal pension or are a member of a money purchase or defined contribution company scheme, you will normally have to buy an annuity with the bulk of your pension fund when you retire. An annuity pays a fixed income for the rest of your life - and women statistically live longer than men so they get lower annuity rates. If a woman retired at 65 with a £100,000 pension, the best annuity rate would give her an annual income of £7074, according to Hargreaves Lansdown. A man could secure an annual income of £7,676. However, the woman could expect to live two years longer.

So how do women bridge the pension gap? The Sunday Herald has come up with 10 top tips: 1. Don't rely on the state - or your husband! The state pension is £90.70 a week for a single person or £145.05 for a couple, which is hardly enough to fund a comfortable lifestyle. Women who rely on their husbands could also be taking a risk because of the high incidence of divorce.

2. Start saving into a pension as early as possible. Naismith says: "Women should probably think about their pensions in their 20s rather than their 30s so they can try and make up for any later career break." A delay can have a big impact on your savings. For example, a 25-year-old who puts off starting a pension until they are 30, will generate a pension fund worth around a third less by the time they reach 65.

3. Put away as much as you can reasonably afford. Advisers recommend that you save half of your age as a percentage of your earnings. So, at 30 you should put 15% of your earnings into your pension, including any contribution from your employer, to generate an income worth two-thirds of your salary by retirement.

4. If you are eligible to join a company pension, it almost always makes sense to sign up, particularly if the employer makes contributions. It's effectively money for nothing!

5. Protect your state pension. Women who take career breaks can safeguard their entitlement to the full basic state pension with home responsibilities protection (HRP), which should be credited automatically if you receive child benefit, are on income support or get a carer's allowance. To qualify for the full basic state pension, you need to build up National Insurance contributions (Nics) over 39 years, falling to 30 years from April 2010. HRP reduces the minimum number of qualifying years to 20.

If you take time off work for other reasons, consider paying voluntary class 3 Nics to ensure you will still get the full state pension.

6. Buy back missing years. If you have a broken Nics record, you can buy back missing years - but it must be the preceeding six years.

7. Keep up your pension contributions. Julie Mulvanny of Prudential says: "Even if you are not earning, you can still contribute up to £3600 a year to a pension and qualify for the tax relief." Or you could ask your spouse to pay into a pension on your behalf.

There can be tax advantages to splitting a pension in this way because both husband and wife will qualify for age-related tax allowances, allowing the couple to earn more tax-free income at retirement.

8. Review your pension annually to make sure it is on track.

9. Consider making top-ups to your pension. You can pay all of your earnings into a pension, up to the annual allowance of £235,000.

10. Shop around for an annuity. You don't have to buy an annuity from your pension firm - and it often pays to scour the market for the best deal. The difference between the best and the worst rates is typically 15%.