A lot of things can get in the way of putting money aside in a pension. Anything from grappling with high living costs, taking on part-time work, being on a lower income or taking time out to raise a child can damage someone's pension pot. And the evidence indicates that for women the hurdles can often be even greater. Government figures show there is a 48 per cent gap between the amount of money built up by men and women coming up to retirement.The research showed that based on most recent data up to 2022, women aged 55 to 59 generally built up a private pension fund of £81,000, against £156,000 for men. Meanwhile, new research from investment platform AJ Bell shows 36 per cent of men contribute between 6 per cent to 11 per cent of their monthly pay to a workplace pension each month, compared to 29 per cent of women. Its data suggested women were more likely than men to contribute just 3 to 5 per cent of their monthly salary - an amount deemed by pension experts to not be enough to build a pot for a comfortable retirement.This adds up over time and separate figures from Now:pensions suggest women have around £105,000 in pension savings when they retire, compared to £232,000 for men. But there are vital ways that women can increase their chance of a decent retirement, even if they are lower earners, looking after children or caring for elderly relatives. These are eight steps women can take now to bolster their pension and help secure their financial future. Options: Be proactive and consider all the options for boosting your pension pot1. Claim child benefitTo get the full new state pension, you usually need at least 35 qualifying National Insurance (NI) years on your record. But until a child is 12, if you get child benefit you should receive free NI credits towards your state pension. So, while working is one way to get NI years, claiming child benefit, if you have children, is another. But you must make sure that you register for this, and many women don't due to the removal of child benefit where one partner is a higher earner.In 2013 child benefit stopped being a universal benefit paid to all and began to be clawed back from higher earners through what is officially called the High Income Child Benefit Charge.For more than a decade, until April 2024, child benefit was tapered if one parent or partner earned more than £50,000 a year until it was wiped out entirely at £60,000. In 2024 the lower threshold was raised to £60,000 and the upper one to £80,000. Parents can either claim child benefit and then pay some or all of it back through the tax system, or register but tick a box to get NI credits only and opt out of payments altogether. As some higher earning households simply never registered to claim child benefit, on the basis that they would not get it. some parents who looked after children have already missed out on valuable NI credits towards their state pension. This is Money campaigned for years for the government to fix the system and prevent parents - mostly mums - potentially losing out on thousands of pounds in state pension due to this child benefit trap.The Government announced in April 2023 that it would launch a new system enabling parents and carers to claim backdated NI credits for free. It had been due to launch in April 2026, but has now been delayed to April 2027. Earlier this year Labour posted an update on the Gov.uk website asking parents to contact them if they will suffer a financial loss because of the delay to launching replacement credits. When the service launches in April 2027, parents will be able to claim credits going back to January 2013.There is little detail so far, and no guarantee take-up of these new credits will be sufficient to fix the problem.So, until the fix is implemented, parents with higher incomes are being advised to submit a claim for child benefit but tick the box to opt out of receiving payments, and only get state pension credits.2. On a low income? You can still be auto-enrolledAnyone earning less than £10,000 a year with any one employer will not be automatically enrolled into a workplace pension scheme. This hits people on lower pay and those working a low number of hours. It can also affect people doing a number of part-time jobs and earning less than £10,000 a year for each. Do not be despondent if you are on a lower wage and still want to join a workplace pension. Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at AJ Bell, said: 'Those who earn between £6,240 and £10,000 with one employer have the right to opt in and be treated like any other member of the scheme, so when you pay in you get employer contributions too. 'Those who make less than £6,240 can ask to join a pension scheme through work, but won't necessarily get employer contributions, so check what's on offer.' Now:pensions has argued that a lower earnings limit and removal of the £10,000 earnings trigger could bring 726,000 more women into scope for automatic pension enrolment. 3. Get pension contributions matched If you are automatically enrolled in a pension, your employer will contribute at least 3 per cent of your salary between £6,240 and £50,270 to it. This is the bare minimum employer contribution. Coles said: 'Some employers will stick to the bare minimum, while some will split the contributions so you both pay 4 per cent, and others will offer to match extra contributions up to a specific level.'She added: 'If there’s an employer match, it’s a brilliant way of super-charging your efforts to save into a pension, so it’s worth checking your contract or talking to HR to see how much extra money you could make this way.'Getting contributions matched by your employer is also a good way to boost the tax relief available on your pension.