In Focus: Retirement Income  

What official data tells us about workplace pensions

  • To understand what the ONS stats are telling us about workplace pensions.
  • To be able to explain why participation rates are tapering off.
  • To be able to explain how to improve pensions participation among at-risk groups.
CPD
Approx.30min
What official data tells us about workplace pensions
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Workplace pensions have been on a tear since 2012 in terms of participation, thanks to the introduction of auto-enrolment. 

Using the power of inertia, more than 10m people have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension, meaning a better retirement outcome for millions of Britons.

According to the Office for National Statistics, 78 per cent of UK employees now have a workplace pension, compared to less than 50 per cent before AE was introduced in 2012.

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But the latest ONS figures also show that while millions of people are now participating in a workplace (largely defined contribution) pension scheme, the rate at which people are joining has been tailing off.

In 2020, the number of Britons saving into workplace pensions was only incrementally higher than in 2019.

While some commentators are hoping this is just a blip caused by the uncertainty last year around Covid-19, others have warned that gaps in participation across different sectors in society are starting to become ever more apparent. 

This CPD feature will demonstrate why there are disparities in the private and pension sectors, whether participation rates tailing off is a Covid blip or a wider issue, and what more needs to be done to encourage pension take-up among women and the self-employed.

The feature - which can be read by clicking on the image above - qualifies for an estimated 30 minutes' structured CPD. 

simoney.kyriakou@ft.com

CPD
Approx.30min

Please answer the six multiple choice questions below in order to bank your CPD. Multiple attempts are available until all questions are correctly answered.

  1. According to Smith, what is evident in the automatic enrolment criteria?

  2. How does Altmann describe workplace pensions?

  3. What may have prompted some people to drop out of workplace schemes, according to Carter?

  4. Why does Chan believe Covid is not the culprit?

  5. What needs to be looked at 'urgently', according to Browne?

  6. AE might not be sufficient but it is a what, according to Chan?

Nearly There…

You have successfully answered all the questions correctly, well done!

You should now know…

  • To understand what the ONS stats are telling us about workplace pensions.
  • To be able to explain why participation rates are tapering off.
  • To be able to explain how to improve pensions participation among at-risk groups.

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