Press release

From October pensions will no longer be the preserve of the few - Webb

Builders, waiters and gardeners are among those who will benefit most from automatic enrolment into workplace pensions starting next month.

• From: Department for Work and Pensions and The Rt Hon Steve Webb
• Published: 5 September 2012

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Builders, waiters and gardeners are among those who will benefit most from automatic enrolment into workplace pensions starting next month, new analysis by DWP reveals today.

The industries where workers are currently least likely to have a workplace pension are Construction (with 33 per cent of workers saving); Distribution, Hotels and Restaurants (28 per cent); and Agriculture and Fishing (19 per cent).

Gas fitters, electricians and plumbers are among those building up the most savings in any sector (66 per cent are saving), yet Energy and Water is the sector that has seen the sharpest decline in saving, down 20 per cent over the past 15 years from 86 per cent.

Automatic enrolment will reverse this trend.  Millions will get access to pension saving, many for the first time, and everyone will get a contribution from their employer.

Pensions Minister Steve Webb said:

“Pensions are far too important to be the preserve of the few. All workers deserve a decent income in retirement, and far too many are missing out at the moment, particularly those on low to moderate incomes who need them the most. 

“Next month, with the dawn of automatic enrolment millions of workers from every industry across the country will start saving so they can secure a more prosperous retirement.”

There has been a dramatic decline in the Distribution, Hotels and Restaurant industries since 1997, with pension saving down from 46 to 28 per cent.   And saving is down in the Banking, Finance and Insurance sector from 58 to 44 per cent

Pension saving has fallen across all age groups, but it is steepest among those aged 22-29, falling from 43 per cent in 1997 to 24 per cent today.

Both men and women are saving less, although pension saving has fallen further for men - down from 59 to 44 per cent, and from 49 to 39 per cent for women.

Up to 11 million people are expected to be eligible for automatic enrolment, with 6 to 9 million newly saving or saving more in all forms of workplace pension scheme.

Notes to Editors

1. The figures are from DWP estimates derived from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, GB, 1997 to 2011 and refer only to private sector workers.  Charts are attached below.
2. In 2011 around 13.5 million workers were not saving into a workplace pension. Of these, 12.3 million were in the private sector and 1.2 million in the public sector.
3. Automatic enrolment starting on 1 October will see people aged 22 to state   pension age earning over £8,105 a year start to be enrolled into their   employer’s pension scheme, starting with the largest firms first. All employers will enrol their staff by April 2017._ _

Private Pensions Saving Statistics Analysis

Table 1 : Eligible employees participating in workplace pension schemes by industry

	Agriculture & Fishing	Energy and Water	Manufacturing	Construction	Distribution, Hotels & Restaurants	Transport & Communication	Banking Finance & Insurance	Public Admin, Education & Health	Other Services
1997	32	87	61	48	47	66	59	79	53
1998	28	87	61	41	45	68	58	80	54
1999	26	86	62	37	46	69	57	81	50
2000	27	86	61	34	44	70	58	81	49
2001	26	85	62	38	45	69	58	81	47
2002	28	86	65	46	46	64	61	82	50
2003	30	86	63	45	43	68	60	81	48
2004	27	81	63	43	40	66	56	80	44
2005	28	84	61	38	37	64	55	79	43
2006	27	86	60	40	37	61	54	80	43
2007	26	81	57	38	35	60	54	79	43
2008	25	69	57	37	33	61	49	79	38
2009	23	67	56	35	31	59	50	78	37
2010	22	68	55	34	30	59	50	78	36
2011	23	67	52	33	28	56	47	77	37

Source: DWP estimates derived from the ONS ASHE, GB, 1997 to 2011

Table 2: Eligible employees participating in workplace pension saving by age band

	22-29	30-39	40-49	50-64
1997	51	66	70	66
1998	50	65	70	66
1999	50	65	70	66
2000	51	65	70	65
2001	50	65	70	65
2002	52	66	71	66
2003	51	64	70	66
2004	46	63	68	65
2005	43	61	68	65
2006	43	61	68	65
2007	41	59	66	65
2008	39	58	65	65
2009	39	57	64	64
2010	38	56	64	64
2011	36	55	63	63

Source: DWP estimates derived from the ONS ASHE, GB, 1997 to 2011

Table 3: Eligible employees participating in workplace pension schemes by gender

Male			Female
	Private	Public		Private	Public
1997	59	92	1997	49	85
1998	58	92	1998	49	85
1999	57	93	1999	50	87
2000	56	92	2000	51	87
2001	56	92	2001	51	88
2002	59	90	2002	53	87
2003	57	91	2003	52	88
2004	55	91	2004	49	88
2005	52	91	2005	46	87
2006	52	91	2006	47	88
2007	50	91	2007	45	88
2008	49	91	2008	43	88
2009	47	90	2009	42	88
2010	46	90	2010	40	88
2011	44	89	2011	39	88

Source: DWP estimates derived from the ONS ASHE, GB, 1997 to 2011

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Published 5 September 2012