The amount of people paying into employer pensions is improving, largely thanks to the introduction of auto-enrolment in 2012 – 82% of all full-time employees paid into an employer pension in 2017 compared to 55% in 1997.
However, there is a marked difference between the pensions of workers in different types of occupations and between the levels of savings accrued by people of different genders, types of work, and backgrounds.
While great progress has been made on pensioner poverty, data suggests this trend is beginning to reverse. In the UK, 1.9 million (16%) people aged 65 and over live in relative poverty and an additional 1.1 million people aged 65 and over have incomes just above the poverty line.
We are working with partners to explore what more can be done to make pensions work for more people, particularly those at risk of being financially insecure in later life, including women, those on low incomes or in part-time or insecure work.
If we want people to be financially secure, we need to ensure they can work for as long as they want to. We are working to prevent people from falling out of the labour market prematurely, leaving them at greater risk of not having the savings they need for a good later life.
