Worth the wait: Worker attitudes towards workplace pensions
This research, supported by the Standard Life Centre for the Future of Retirement, explores workers’ retirement expectations and their attitudes towards their workplace pensions. With high living costs and low wages leaving people little headroom to save, our findings show that many are struggling to build up a decent pension pot for retirement. They also show that a good workplace pension policy matters to workers, and that offering a Living Pension can improve job satisfaction and encourage people to stay with their current employer for longer.
Our findings are based on a poll of 2,000 employees paying into a Defined Contribution pension. 500 those surveyed are paid below the real Living Wage, and as such, these findings are not representative of the UK population as a whole.
As part of this research we asked people how much they were saving into their workplace pension pot each month, to understand if they were saving below or at/above the Living Pension standard. The Living Pension is an independently calculated savings target, based on the real cost of living, designed to provide an acceptable standard of living in retirement when combined with a full State Pension income. It is based on a yearly contribution of 12% of all earnings to an employee’s pension pot, or £3,150 of savings in 2025/6, with no more than 5% coming from the employee.
Key findings
Many aren’t saving enough for retirement, and some are pessimistic about their retirement prospects. Among those who provided adequate information for analysis, 68% of those polled are saving below the Living Pension standard. 32% of all those we polled expect to work beyond retirement age, including 10% who never expect to retire.
Those who are most in need of a Living Pension are the least likely to have one. Women, people renting, people living alone, disabled workers, part-time workers, and those paid below the real Living Wage are more likely to think they'll need to work beyond retirement age and are less satisfied with their workplace pensions. This is not surprising given most Living Pension savers are men (73%), homeowners (81%), living with a spouse (76%), non-disabled (89%), full-time workers (94%), and earn at or above the Living Wage (98%).
Good workplace pension policies matter to workers, and a Living Pension standard could improve overall job satisfaction and increase length of service. 85% of those polled say it’s important that employers contribute enough to pensions to support a decent standard of living in retirement. Living Pension savers are more satisfied with their workplace pension (79%, vs 59% of all respondents). Among those saving below the standard, the majority say moving to a Living Pension would improve their job satisfaction (63%) and reduce anxiety about retirement (54%). 50% say it would increase the length of time they plan to stay in their job, and 44% would increase their own pension contributions if their employer accredited.
