In the Pensions Survey of Quarter 3 2019, new questions were introduced for employees with no occupational pension coverage. Employees whose employer did not offer a pension scheme or who were not eligible to join the pension scheme at work, were excluded from these questions. The questions were asked only of persons who had chosen not to be part of their employer's pension scheme. They also had no other pension coverage either from previous employments or from a personal pension. They were asked for the main reason for having no pension coverage. One third (33.2%) stated that they could not afford a pension while just over 36% (36.2%) cited never got around to organising it. One in twelve (8.6%) of these employees felt that other sources offer a better return for investment while 5.6% said that other sources including the State pension, savings, etc. would be adequate. See Table 6.1 and Figure 6.1.
| Never got around to organising it | Can't afford a pension | Other sources offer a better return for investment | Other sources will be adequate including State Pension, savings etc | Don't understand pensions | Too much financial risk | Other | |
| Male | 37.6 | 32.2 | 9.6 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 2.2 | 6.6 |
| Female | 34.4 | 34.5 | 7.5 | 5.4 | 4.6 | 3.5 | 10.2 |
| 20-24 | 48.7 | 23.3 | 14.3 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 1.8 | 5.1 |
| 25-34 | 35.1 | 31 | 8.3 | 2.8 | 6.3 | 1.5 | 15.1 |
| 35-44 | 28.6 | 46 | 6.6 | 5.7 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 3.6 |
| 45-54 | 34.5 | 29.7 | 7.3 | 13.7 | 5.7 | 3.5 | 5.6 |
| 55-69 | 34.4 | 35.5 | 4 | 6.8 | 7.1 | 4.2 | 8 |
Other includes spouse pension, intend to join pension scheme and don't know or not stated.
At an overall level, workers aged 20 to 69 years (including self-employed and/or assisting relatives) who have no pension coverage, were asked what their expected source of income would be on retirement. Almost 6 in every 10 (59.7%) workers cited the State Pension as their future expected source of income, while one in ten stated that they would rely on savings or investments while one fifth (20.1%) were undecided. Spouse or partner's occupational or personal pension was cited as an expected source of income on retirement by 3.7% of workers with no pension coverage. See Table 6.2.
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