New figures show that 22,000 people throughout Lewisham are now enrolled in a workplace pension.
We welcome new figures showing that, due to changes to workplace pensions, 10 million more people are now saving for retirement.
Auto-enrolment was introduced so that workers can save more and have greater financial security and independence in their retirement.
By introducing automatic enrolment, we’ve enabled 10 million people – including 22,000 people in Lewisham – to save for their future.
Our balanced approach to the economy – as well as important changes to help people save more for their retirement – means more families can plan for the long-term with the security of a pension.
For a whole generation, workplace pension saving is now the new normal, but there’s more to do to help more people than ever before build an enjoyable and secure retirement.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Amber Rudd, added:
‘Automatic enrolment is an extraordinary success story. Thanks to this revolutionary reform, 10 million people can look forward to a more secure future and a better retirement.
‘That is a remarkable achievement. Workplace pensions had fallen out of fashion and were seen as the preserve of older, wealthier people. Now saving is the norm across the UK, wherever you work.
‘As we reflect on this milestone, we will of course be considering how we can reach even more people – with our ambition to bring in younger workers and enable everyone, particularly part-time and lower earners and the self-employed, to save more.’
Notes to Editors
- The Pensions Regulator has shown how automatic enrolment has meant 1.4 million UK employers have enrolled staff into a workplace pension, helping 10 million employees save for their family’s future (The Pensions Regulator, Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance regional data, 11 February 2019, link).
- We are transforming the way people save for retirement by introducing automatic enrolment. Since its launch in 2012, over 10 million people are now enrolled into a workplace pension, a large number of new savers under the age of 30. 4 in 5 of today’s eligible workers (83 per cent) now see saving through a workplace pension as the normal thing to do if you are in paid employment (DWP press release, 13 February 2018, link; The Pensions Regulator, Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance regional data, 11 February 2019, link).
- The people benefitting the most from automatic enrolment are young people, women and those people who earn the least in the workplace. Workplace pension participation in the public and private sectors has increased from a low of 55 per cent in 2012 to 84 per cent in 2017. The most significant increases have been among the lowest earners, younger people (those aged 20 to 29) and women (DWP press release, 13 February 2018, link; DWP, Workplace Pension Participation and Savings Trends of Eligible Employees Official Statistics: 2007 to 2017, 5 June 2018, link).
- DWP research found that workplace pensions have become ‘the new normal’, revealing that small and micro employers – which represent 98 per cent of all UK businesses – are finding automatic enrolment ‘necessary’, ‘sensible’ and ‘easier to implement than first expected’ (DWP press release, 13 February 2018, link).
