Private sector slammed over pensions

Only a quarter of private sector employees are active members of their employers’ pension schemes in the UK, compared with a third five years ago, a Government-commissioned report has revealed.

By The Newsroom

Published 27th Jul 2012, 07:00 BST

The research showed the scale of the challenge to tackle the pensions savings crisis, with just over two months to go before larger employers begin automatically enrolling people into workplace pension schemes.

The Employers’ Pension Provision Survey also found that seven in 10 private sector employers do not currently offer any form of pension provision for their employees.

Just 31 per cent of private sector organisations offer any pension provision for their staff, down from 41 per cent in 2007 according to the report, compiled by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research and TNS-BMRB and published yesterday.

Joanne Segars, chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds said: “These figures paint an alarmingly bleak picture and far too few workers in the private sector are saving into a pension.”