Pension Coverage 2020

Nearly three quarters (74.0%) of personal pensions, held by workers whose broad occupational group is Associate professional and technical, are in current contribution mode, as was the case for 71.2% of persons with personal pension coverage in the Managers, directors and senior officials broad occupational group. See Table 5.2.

People can sometimes choose to defer payments on their personal pension scheme for a period for various reasons. During the COVID-19 pandemic, where job loss and job uncertainty was an issue for many in our population, it may have been the case that some chose to defer various payments, including to personal pension schemes. In Quarter 3 2020, almost half (49.2%) of personal pension holders in the Process, plant and machine operatives occupational group deferred payments for a period of time, an increase of nearly nine percentage points on the same period in 2019 (40.5%). Similarly, in the case of workers in the Caring, leisure and other services group surveyed in Quarter 3 2020, 45.2% had deferred payments on their personal pensions, compared with 41.1% in 2019. See Table 5.2.