Retirement realities
Think tank: The Living Wage Foundation
Author(s): Ana Witteveen
September 4, 2024
This report from UK think tank the Living Wage Foundation looks at the impact of the cost-of-living on pension savings and retirement expectations.
Many people in the UK are experiencing poverty once they retire from work, and many more may be at risk of post-work poverty in the future if their pension contributions are not sufficiently high to ensure a decent standard of living in retirement. This “post-work poverty” is a particular risk for those in low paid jobs.
In 2023 and 2024 the Living Wage Foundation commissioned polling of 3,000 UK adults to help us better understand the pensions landscape in the UK, how it is changing over time, how it may change in the future, and how people feel about their pension contributions. Our findings suggest that most people working in the UK today are concerned about their finances in retirement and don’t expect to be able to stop working at retirement age. Despite the cost-of-living crisis showing signs of easing, many have had to decrease or stop their pension contributions to get by.
These results highlight the importance of ensuring that minimum pension contributions are at a level likely to deliver an acceptable standard of living in retirement.
