Nearly half of working UK adults (46 per cent)1 believe that they will still be working after they reach state pension age2, according to new research from leading workplace pension provider, People’s Partnership3.
The YouGov survey, of more than 2,000 working adults, also shows that seven per cent don’t think they will ever be able to retire.
Set against a backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis, less than a quarter (24 per cent) of non- retired respondents said they were confident that they would have enough pension savings for them to enjoy the lifestyle they were hoping for in retirement. This finding follows separate research4 by People’s Partnership that shows, despite the huge success of Automatic Enrolment, the majority of workers are still not saving enough to maintain their current standard of living in retirement.
This latest research also shows that:
- 13 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds think they will still be working when they are 70 and older
- Nearly a quarter of working adults (24 per cent) said they have personal investments or savings for retirement
- One in five (20 per cent) said they did not have any savings or pensions in place and would rely on the State Pension in retirement
- Nearly 4 in 10 (39 per cent) said that they were less confident about their retirement prospects than they were when the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020
Phil Brown, director of policy at People’s Partnership, which provides The People’s Pension to more than six million people across the UK said:
“It’s clear that the cost-of-living crisis, and the uncertainty this is causing means that many people are rightly concerned about their retirement prospects.
“The financial resilience of many people in this country must be improved and one way of doing this is to build upon the huge success of automatic enrolment and widen it to even more people. We know that millions are still not saving enough to maintain their current standard of living in retirement, which is why we agree with calls to increase the minimum auto-enrolment contribution rate from eight per cent to 12 per cent of earnings, as soon as we are through the cost-of-living crisis.”
ENDS
Notes to editor:
- All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,139 adults, of whom 1,597 were not yet retired. Fieldwork was undertaken between 17th – 18th May 2023. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).
- Current State Pension Age is 66 and this increases to 67 between 2026 and 2028 and is currently set to increase to 68 from 2044, although a decision to review this has been postponed until after the next General Election.
- People’s Partnership is a profit-for-people organisation. It provides The People’s Pension, a leading workplace pension scheme, serving more than six million pension savers across the UK and manages £21bn in assets. As a business without shareholders, it reinvests its profits with the aim to help customers and achieve better financial outcomes for everyone.
- The Pensions Adequacy in Great Britain, findings from round 7 of the Wealth and Assets Survey can be found here