{"id":85220,"date":"2025-05-08T17:54:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T17:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/85220\/"},"modified":"2025-05-08T17:54:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T17:54:10","slug":"pension-system-reform-calls-grow-as-millions-risk-falling-into-retirement-poverty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/85220\/","title":{"rendered":"Pension system reform calls grow as millions risk falling into ‘retirement poverty’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The retirement outlook for Britons has worsened significantly over the past year, with two-fifths of people now off track for even a minimum lifestyle in retirement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New research from Scottish Widows reveals that 39 per cent of UK residents are not saving enough for their later years, up from 35 per cent in 2023.<\/p>\n

Half of people surveyed acknowledge they are not putting enough aside for retirement. The findings come amid a cost of living crisis that continues to squeeze household budgets and hamper long-term financial planning.<\/p>\n

Despite pension saving levels increasing in the past year, they have failed to keep pace with rising living costs<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Projected retirement income has risen to \u00a317,200 from \u00a315,500, according to Scottish Widows’ research.<\/p>\n

\"Pensioners<\/p>\n

Britons are at risk of falling into “retirement poverty” <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

The report found that 42 per cent of people in their 20s are at risk of poverty in retirement, while 23 per cent will only manage a minimum retirement lifestyle.<\/p>\n

Competing financial priorities make retirement saving difficult for this age group. A quarter of people in their 20s prioritise saving for emergency expenses, while 13 per cent are not able to save at all.<\/p>\n

Emergency funds, house deposits and holidays rank as their main savings goals instead of pension contributions. This creates a concerning outlook for younger generations’ financial security in later life.<\/p>\n

Low-to-middle earners face equally concerning prospects, with those earning between \u00a320,000 and \u00a335,000 in their 30s most likely to contribute only the minimum eight per cent under auto-enrolment.<\/p>\n

Do you have a money story you\u2019d like to share? Get in touch by emailing money@gbnews.uk.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Rachel<\/p>\n

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is being urged to consider pension reforms to bolster retirement savings <\/p>\n

GETTY <\/p>\n

This group faces a dramatic 60 per cent income drop in retirement on average, with 70 per cent seeing their income halved. <\/p>\n

Self-employed workers are in an even more precarious position as they’re excluded from auto-enrolment.<\/p>\n

More than half (51 per cent) of self-employed individuals risk being unable to cover basic needs in retirement. Just 25 per cent are on track for even a minimum retirement lifestyle.<\/p>\n

Nearly two in five (39 per cent) self-employed workers acknowledge they aren’t saving enough, with 23 per cent not saving anything at all.<\/p>\n

Alongside this data, Scottish Widows stresses the need for financial empowerment to address these retirement challenges.<\/p>\n

While 69 per cent of people feel financially independent, a quarter do not and 44 per cent believe they’ll never achieve this.<\/p>\n

Pete Glancy, Scottish Widows head of pensions policy, said: “Our research couldn’t be more timely, spelling out just how crucial targeted measures are in preventing millions from living in retirement poverty in the coming years.”<\/p>\n

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Couple<\/p>\n

Britons are worried about the future of their retirement <\/p>\n

GETTY <\/p>\n

He identified three key areas requiring urgent attention: “auto-enrolment, self-employed contribution rates and housing, considering both home ownership and affordable housing.”<\/p>\n

The Government’s pension review must take “a holistic view on people’s financial journey through life,” Glancy added.<\/p>\n

Brian Byrnes, head of personal finance at Moneybox, described the findings as painting a “stark picture” of the UK’s worsening retirement outlook.<\/p>\n

“With 1.6 million more people now at risk of retirement poverty compared to last year, the urgency for action has never been clearer – especially for groups like Gen Z, low to middle earners, and the self-employed,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The retirement outlook for Britons has worsened significantly over the past year, with two-fifths of people now off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3093],"tags":[51,474,1232,617,2499,512,1786,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-85220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-money","11":"tag-pensions","12":"tag-personal-finance","13":"tag-sgg","14":"tag-state-pension","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114473498347907956","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}