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Persons without Pension Coverage

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For those in employment who had no pension cover, they were asked for their main reason for not having any pension coverage. This covered persons who had no occupational pension coverage (from current or previous employments) or personal pension cover. The affordability of pensions and never getting around to organising pension cover, were the two main reasons cited by respondents. Four in ten (40.0%) respondents stated that they could not afford a pension, an increase of nearly five percentage points on the same period in 2020 (35.3%). A further 45.2% stated that they never got around to organising pension cover, or would do so at a future date, with 37% in the same period in 2020. See Table 6.1 and Figure 6.1.

The availability of a spouse’s pension was cited by 3.9% of respondents as the main reason for not having pension cover, and 3.2% felt that other sources offer a better return for investment, with just 2.8% of those without pension cover saying that other sources including the State pension, savings, etc. would be adequate. See Table 6.1 and Figure 6.1.

Table 6.1 Persons in employment (ILO) aged 20 to 69 years with no occupational pension classified by main reason for not having a pension Q3 2020 and Q3 2021

Never got around to organising itCan't afford a pensionOther sources offer a better return for investmentOther sources will be adequate including state pension or savings etcToo much financial riskDon't understand pensionsSpouse's pension
Male49.435.74.63.13.81.51.9
Female39.945.31.52.61.23.16.4
25-34 62.530.61.701.11.52.5
35-44 41.3444.91.32.31.64.6
45-54 33415.74.86.51.77.3
55-69 32.143.53.39.83.534.8
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Those in employment 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. The State Pension was cited as the expected source of income on retirement for just under half (49.6%) of those in employment with no pension coverage, while almost a third (30.9%) were undecided. One in eleven of those with no pension cover (9.1%) stated that they would rely on savings or investments, while spouse or partner's occupational or personal pension was cited as an expected source of main income on retirement by 3.8% of workers with no pension coverage. See Table 6.2.

Table 6.2 Persons in employment (ILO) aged 20 to 69 years without a pension classified by expected main source of income on retirement Q3 2020 and Q3 2021

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