In Quarter 3 2023, pension coverage remained greatest among workers aged 45 to 54 years (77%), unchanged from 2022. It remained lowest among young workers with 33% of workers aged 20-24 years having some form of pension coverage.
For employees with occupational pensions from their current employment, the number with ‘defined benefit’ pensions decreased in 2023 (30% compared with 32% in 2022), while the number with ‘defined contribution’ pensions increased to 66% from 62% in 2022.
For those workers with no occupational pension coverage from their current employment, half (50%) of workers stated that their employer does not offer a pension scheme.
Of employees with no supplementary pension cover, over four in ten (43%) cited affordability as the main reason, while similarly, a further 43% stated they never got around to organising it or would organise it at a future date.
The State Pension was cited as the expected main source of income on retirement for almost six in ten (59%) workers with no pension coverage (up two percentage points on 2022).
Of respondents who are eligible for the Auto Enrolment Scheme, one in five (20%) were aware of it, and of these, over seven in ten (72%) said they would stay in the scheme if automatically enrolled in it, up seven percentage points on the same period in 2022.
The Pension Survey is carried out using the Labour Force Survey (LFS) in the third quarter of the year. In 2023, a separate Eurostat module on Pensions (for people aged 50-74 years) was included in the LFS survey in all quarters in Wave 3 only. This impacted on data collection for the national Pensions survey, as detailed in the Background Notes.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (26 February 2024) published the results of the Pensions Survey which was carried out in Quarter 3 (Q3) 2023.
Commenting on the release, Maureen Delamere, Statistician in the Social Modules Division, said:
“The results in this publication cover pension provision outside of the State Pension. Of the people in employment in Q3 (July, August, and September) 2023, more than two-thirds (68%) had pension coverage of some form (outside of the State Pension), up two percentage points from the same period in 2022.
Pension Coverage by Age
Pension coverage in 2023 followed the same trend as in 2022, where pension coverage was lowest among younger workers, although supplementary pension coverage among this age group has risen in recent years. One-third (33%) of people in the 20 to 24 years age group had pension coverage of some form in 2023, up two percentage points on the same period in 2022. Interestingly, the number of people taking out supplementary pension coverage increases with age. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of the oldest age group surveyed, people aged 55-69 years, had supplementary pension cover. Most supplementary pension cover is with Defined Contribution (66% of pensions) rather than Defined Benefit (30% of pensions).
Almost half (48%) of older workers aged 55 to 69 years have been in their current occupational pension scheme for 20 years or more, compared with just over one in twelve (8%) people aged between 35 and 44 years.
Pension Coverage by Broad Occupation Group/Economic Sector
Analysis of pension coverage by broad occupational groups shows that workers whose occupation was classified as Professionals had the highest pension coverage rate at 83%, whereas just 48% of workers whose broad occupational group was Skilled Trades had pension coverage. The economic sector Public Administration and Defence; Compulsory Social Security had the highest pension coverage in Q3 2023 (97%), while the lowest coverage was in the Accommodation and Food Service Activities sector (32%).
Reasons Given for Having No Supplementary Pension
Of employees who had no supplementary pension cover, more than four in ten (43%) cited the affordability of pensions as the main reason for not having pension cover, a further 43% stated they never got around to organising it (34%), while 9% said they would organise pension provision at a future date. For workers (including self-employed), the State Pension was cited as the expected main source of income on retirement for almost six in ten (59%) workers with no pension coverage, while one in six (17%) had not yet decided on this issue.
Planned Government Auto-Enrolment Scheme
Of respondents who are eligible to be automatically enrolled in the planned Government Auto Enrolment Retirement Savings scheme (for workers one in five (20%) were aware of the scheme, and of these, more than seven in ten 72%) said they would stay in the scheme if automatically enrolled in it. The scheme will be aimed at workers aged 23 to 60 years with no occupational pension cover from their current employer.”