Poverty-stricken
pensioners
January
2005
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Poverty-Stricken
Pensioners
 A new report from Age Concern
Employers are not doing enough to encourage workers to join
company pension schemes, according to new research by Age Concern.
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Lack of information and limited
opportunities are deterring many workers from making crucial
savings towards their retirement.
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The charity is calling for
employers to make it easier for workers to save into a company
pension.
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30% of non-members surveyed said they
hadn’t joined the company pension scheme when they started work
and had never been asked again.
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One employee reported a wait of
three years before being allowed to join the scheme.
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Instead of the current system where many
people have to 'opt in' to a company pension scheme, Age Concern
believes that employers should consider automatically enrolling
staff which would give them the choice to actively ‘opt out’.
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Employers should do more to encourage people to join occupational
schemes, such as inviting workers who not yet members to join on an
annual basis.
What do employees want?
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More information, higher pay and additional company contributions were
cited by the non-members as key changes that would encourage them to
join their company scheme.
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29% of the non-members questioned admitted they could not actually
afford to contribute to an occupational pension at the moment.
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One in five non-members gave ‘other financial priorities’ as a reason
for not joining .
The Pensions Commission’s report last year clearly demonstrated the
need to increase the national pension pot.
But compelling workers to pay into private pension schemes would make
life much harder for the millions of lower-income workers who already
struggle to make ends meet and may offer little financial reward in
retirement.
Age Concern believes that if increased compulsion is necessary, the
fairest way to achieve it would be through the state pension system.
To save or not to save: workers’ pensions and provision for
retirement, Age Concern January 2005
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