A major research report looking at the savings decisions of over 25,000 UK workers, and the factors that influence participation in pension saving has just been published.
The research was undertaken in partnership with the Strategic Society Centre with the support of Prudential.
Who Saves for Retirement? represents one of the most comprehensive studies of the factors determining participation in pension saving ever undertaken. The study uses data from the first wave of the Wealth and Assets Survey to explore the prevalence of pension saving across the population, and the precise influence of individual, household and employer characteristics on participation in pension saving.
The research examines the prevalence of occupational and personal pension saving across the population, and the differing behaviour of men and women. Other themes explored in the study include how individuals expect to fund their retirement, the influence of financial commitments on pension saving, and the role of employers.
Key findings from the research include:
- Employer contributions reign supreme as the biggest employee pull to workplace pension saving, and are likely to prove the silver bullet for government’s pension reforms
- Half of UK workers currently save into occupational pension schemes, but take-up of workplace schemes is 80 per cent where employers make contributions
- Only two-in-five people working for firms with fewer than 25 staff have a workplace pension available to them
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