Samantha Gould
Head of PR and Campaigns
I work for NOW: Pensions. We look after the pension savings of millions of members. Our mission is to create a fairer UK pension system for everyone. We do this by highlighting inequalities and campaigning for real change. Learning about money and personal finance is important when you are young. Whether we are talking about saving pocket money, preparing to pay the bills or thinking about retirement (when people stop working), this is all personal finance. NOW: Pensions help with personal finance by managing pensions for individuals and companies. A pension is money that is saved, while you are working, for when you retire and you are no longer working. Everyone in the UK receives a basic pension from the government, but this is often not enough money. Many people add to their savings into their own pension pot.
I am responsible for the Public Relations (PR) and campaign work. I am a campaigner for gender equality, which is that everyone should be treated the same. Money is important. By thinking about how we save and spend money, we can start to prepare for the future. It is also important to think about the future because there are some groups of people who might find it harder to save than others. For example, women’s pensions are, on average, 1/5 of the size of men’s by the time they reach age 65. This isn’t because women are bad at saving money; there’s lots of reasons as to why this happens. Women often take maternity leave if they become pregnant and the cost of childcare can be really high, which means many mums decide to stay at home, rather than work. We also currently have a gender pay gap, which means that women are often paid less or are less likely to get jobs that pay higher wages than men.
I am hugely passionate about my work and I do a lot of lobbying with the Government to try and make policy changes. My proposals would help get another 3 million women saving for their future .
As a single parent, I have to juggle work and childcare for my toddler. Working from home over the last 16 months has made things a little easier to manage but I do work flexible hours to accommodate everything. In a typical month we will get 50 press mentions so I spend a lot of time on the phone with journalists and at speaking events and webinars to share my research and campaign / get wider support.
I have worked in pensions since I left university in 2008. I studied marketing and psychology at uni and ‘fell’ into my job in pensions working as a temp (and never left!)
I am hugely passionate about correcting ‘wrong’s’ and equality. Improving diversity and inclusion are other important areas of my work and I run a lot of internal working groups to improve equality both inside and outside my organisation. Financial Services is a core part of people’s lives and I believe that we can do more to support people and ensure that they are able to live a comfortable life.
I got a puppy last year so we take Piglet (mini sausage dog) for walks. My 4 year-old doesn’t stop moving and is very active so we’re always on the go. I love books, I love reading and I keep a diary - it’s good to track your progress against your goals. I love listening to live music and cannot wait to get back on a plane to sunnier climbs.
If not you, who ? If not now, when? - unattributed quote