Comment from Stan Russell, Prudential, on occupational pension figures released today by the ONS.
Stan Russell, retirement expert at Prudential said: "This data shows the urgent need for auto-enrolment, with fewer than a third of people with a company pension scheme actively contributing. Our own research suggests that only one in five workers always joins their company pension scheme - resulting in them missing out on tax relief to the tune of £200 per year. If you also consider the losses in employer contributions, it would not be unfair to double this figure for each individual.
"We hope that auto-enrolment's high profile launch will highlight amongst the public the importance of retirement saving and reverse the trend we've seen over the last few years of falling incomes for pensioners entering retirement."
Summary of ONS data
In 2011, total membership of occupational pension schemes in the UK was estimated to be 27.2 million, the same as in 2010. Of the total in 2011, 13.0 million were in public sector schemes and 14.2 million were in private sector schemes
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In 2011, there were an estimated 8.2 million active members of occupational pension schemes: 5.3 million in public sector schemes and 2.9 million in private sector schemes
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In 2011, for defined benefit schemes in the private sector, the average contribution rate was 4.9 per cent for members and 14.2 per cent for employers
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Fordefined contribution schemes in the private sector, the average contribution rate was 2.8 per cent for members and 6.6 per cent for employers
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