Men's pensions will be almost two-thirds bigger than woman's among those planning to retire this year, according to research from Prudential.

Men who start drawing a pension during 2010 can expect to draw an annual average income of £12,169, while woman will only receive an average of £7,424.

Income from pensions dropped for both sexes over the last year, but for women it declined by three times as much as for men. Women who stop working this year will receive a pension that is an estimated 11% less than those who retired last year - the drop for men is only 3.5%.

"The reason woman appear to get less in their pensions than men in embedded in years of history, and, to a certain extent, because some women take a career break to have children which has an impact," said Karin Brown, director of pensions and annuities at Prudential.

Over 6,000 businessmen and women aged 45 and older were questioned for the survey. The survey also revealed that nearly a third of people over 55 were delaying their retirement plans because of the economic downturn and falls in the value of their investments.