Chamber News
Call for better pension saving deal for under-22s and low-paid
7 February 2023 • Sarah Medcraf
Younger and lower-paid workers should be included in a scheme which sees people automatically enrolled into pension saving, a think tank says.
Current rules require workers aged 22 and above to be enrolled, and receive a contribution from their employer, when they earn more than £10,000 a year.
The Social Market Foundation (SMF) says those from minority ethnic backgrounds disproportionately miss out.
The UK government says it is planning to make these changes, when affordable.
In a wide-ranging study, supported by the consumer group Which?, the SMF also called on the government to accelerate its plans to allow workers to be included from the age of 18.
The SMF said that people from ethnic minorities were much less likely than white Britons to save into a workplace pension, suggesting that 25% did so, compared with a national average of 38%.
They were disproportionately likely to be younger and poorer, meaning they were missing out. The think tank also suggested there was heightened scepticism about financial services within these groups, with lower levels of awareness and trust, even among those earning bigger salaries.