Pensions - Articles - Aegon comments on the latest ONS workplace pension figures

 “Once again the evidence shows that auto-enrolment is working, with 77% of UK employees saving in a workplace pension scheme, the highest membership rate since comparable records began in 1997. Making pension saving the norm is an amazing achievement in such a short time.

 “Although the gender gap in participation rates has been consigned to history for the public sector, it’s alive and kicking in the private sector, where 77% of men have a workplace pension compared to 69% of women. Women tend to earn less than men, and they are disproportionately hit by the auto-enrolment earnings trigger of £10,000 a year for a single job. The continued freeze in the earnings trigger for 20/21 is estimated to bring 80,000* newly eligible employees into auto-enrolment, 60,000 of which will be women.

 “It’s good news that many more women will be able to benefit from an employer pension contribution for the first time, however the scale of the numbers shines the spotlight on the gender imbalance when it comes to pension saving via the workplace. The government needs to address this gender imbalance when it comes to adjusting the earnings trigger in future, especially as women tend to live longer than men.”

 *https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/automatic-enrolment-review-of-the-earnings-trigger-and-qualifying-earnings-band-for-202021/review-of-the-automatic-enrolment-earnings-trigger-and-qualifying-earnings-band-for-202021-supporting-analysis