Pension Coverage 2025

Affordability was the main reason for not having a pension

• Of the people in employment in Quarter 3 (Q3) 2025 (when this survey was carried out), more than two-thirds (67%) had pension coverage of some form (outside of the State Pension) (See Table 2.1).
• For workers with no pension cover for their retirement, almost four in ten (39%) said that the main reason for not having any pension cover was that they could not afford it, compared with 30% of workers with no pension coverage in the same period in 2024.
• Just over one-third (34%) said that they never got around to organising it, while a further 15% said that they would set it up at a future date.

More than half of workers with no pension cover will rely on the State Pension only

• Of people with no pension coverage, over half (52%) cited the State Pension as the only expected source of income on retirement, unchanged from 2024.
• More than one-quarter (26%) were undecided as to what their main source of income would be on their retirement (25% in 2024), while a further one in eight (12%) said that they intended to join a pension scheme at a future date. Just 5% stated that they would rely on savings or investments.