The Pensions Survey is carried out on an annual basis in the third quarter of the year, using the Labour Force Survey (LFS) survey instrument. The first iteration of this annual data collection on pension coverage in the State commenced in Quarter 3 2018 and is now carried out on an annual basis.
This survey does not measure pensions provided through the State Social Welfare Scheme and instead relates to occupational and personal pension cover (supplementary pension coverage) only for persons in employment aged 20 to 69 years. It also covers occupational pension coverage from previous employments (also for self-employed persons) and personal pensions where payments have been deferred or are in current draw-down mode.
COVID-19 reshaped the lives of the Irish people in 2020. The survey results presented in this chapter cover persons in employment only. Persons who may have been laid-off due to the COVID-19 pandemic are not covered in the survey results.
The Pensions Survey data is collected directly from private households. Institutional households (e.g. nursing homes, barracks, boarding schools, hotels etc.) are not covered by the survey.
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Link to publication: Pension Coverage
Of persons in employment in Quarter 3 2020, 64.7% had pension coverage, an increase of almost five percentage points on the same period in 2019. This includes occupational pension provision from current and previous employments, as well as personal pension coverage where payments have been deferred for a while or are currently being drawn down. The State Pension is excluded for the purposes of this survey.
Supplementary pension coverage of males increased by nearly seven percentage points - 67.1% in 2020 versus 60.7% in 2019 – compared with an increase of more than three percentage points for females (61.9% in 2020 compared with 58.7% in 2019).
Pension coverage has increased for all age groups, when compared to the third quarter of 2019, but pension coverage in 2020 has followed the same trend as in 2019 where pension coverage was lowest among younger workers. Nearly one quarter (24.4%) of workers in the 20 to 24 years age group had pension coverage, while almost half (49.9%) of workers in the 25 to 34 years age cohort had supplementary pension coverage in Quarter 3 2020.
Supplementary pension coverage increases with age. Over seven in ten (70.8%) workers aged 35 to 44 years have pension coverage, while over three quarters (76.8%) of persons aged 45 to 54 years and 72.7% of persons aged 55 to 69 years had supplementary pension coverage in the third quarter of 2020.
The NACE economic sector with the highest pension coverage in Quarter 3 2020 was Public administration and defence; compulsory social security (95.8%). During the COVID-19 pandemic, persons in this sector would have largely remained in employment, albeit perhaps remote working in some cases. By comparison, just over one fifth (21.1%) of persons working in the Accommodation and food service activities sector had pension coverage in Quarter 3 2020.
Analysis of pension coverage by broad occupational groups shows that workers whose occupation was classified as Professionals had the highest pension coverage rate (86.4%), followed by Associate professional and technical (75.9%) and Managers, directors and senior officials (69.2%). Just over one third (34.0%) of workers whose broad occupational group was Sales and customer service, had pension coverage.
| Managers, directors and senior officials | Professionals | Associate professional and technical | Administrative and secretarial | Skilled trades | Caring, leisure and other services | Sales and customer service | Process, plant and machine operatives | Elementary | |
| Pension Coverage 2020 | 69.2 | 86.4 | 75.9 | 67.9 | 54 | 46.3 | 34 | 55.8 | 31.9 |
Of those workers who had a pension in Quarter 3 2020, almost seven in ten (69.7%) had Occupational pension coverage only (from current or previous employments), 12.3% had Personal pension coverage only, while 18.0% had Both occupational and personal pensions for their retirement.
In Quarter 3 2020, personal pension coverage for persons in employment decreased by almost three percentage points on the same period in 2019 – 12.3% compared with 15.1% in 2019. Similarly, supplementary pension coverage (from Both occupational and personal pension schemes) of workers aged between 20 and 69 years, decreased by over five percentage points – 18.0% in Quarter 3 2020 compared with 23.4% in the same survey period in 2019.
| Occupational pension only | Personal pension only | Both occupational and personal pension | |
| Male | 65.4 | 15.3 | 19.4 |
| Female | 75.1 | 8.7 | 16.2 |
The proportion of workers with an occupational pension from their current employment who identified their pension as a Defined Contribution pension was 63.9%, and 33.8% of workers had a Defined Benefit occupational pension from their current job, while 2.3% had a Hybrid pension. Rates of Defined Benefit occupational pension cover is highest for the older age groups, with 48.2% of females and 44.3% of males in the 55 to 69 years age group having a Defined Benefit occupational pension in their current employment. By comparison, of employees aged 25 to 34 years, just 31.5% of females and 26.8% of males had a Defined Benefit occupational pension from their current employment, as did just 36.3% of females and 27% of males in the 35 to 44 years age group.
Self-employed persons, who did not have an occupational pension, were asked if they had an occupational pension from a previous employment. Over seven in ten (71.3%) confirmed they had a Defined Contribution pension, while 26.1% had a Defined Benefit occupational pension and 2.7% were part of a Hybrid pension scheme from a previous employment.
| Defined Benefit | Defined Contribution | Hybrid | |
| Employees with an occupational pension from their current employment | 33.8 | 63.9 | 2.3 |
| Employees with occupational pension, only from a previous employment | 21.2 | 77.6 | 1.2 |
| Self employed persons with occupational pension from a previous employment | 26.1 | 71.3 | 2.7 |
In Quarter 3 2020, respondents were asked not only about personal pensions in current contribution, but also personal pensions where payments had been deferred for a period of time or were already being drawn down. Two thirds (66.0%) of personal pensions are in current contribution, 32.2% of workers with personal pension coverage had deferred payments for a period, while just 1.8% were already drawing down a personal pension.
Employees who had no occupational pension coverage (from current or previous employments) or personal pension cover were asked for the main reason for having no pension coverage. The affordability of pensions was cited as one of the main reasons by 35.3% of this cohort of employees, while 37% stated they never got around to organising it.
One in eleven (9.4%) of these employees felt that other sources offer a better return for investment while 6.3% said that other sources including the State pension, savings, etc. would be adequate. Too much financial risk was cited by 5.5% of employees with no occupational pension coverage while 4.2% said that they don’t understand pensions.
Note that employees whose employer did not offer a pension scheme or who were not eligible to join the pension scheme at work, were excluded from these questions. The questions were asked only of persons who had chosen not to be part of their employer's pension scheme and also had no other pension coverage either from previous employments or from a personal pension.
| Never got around to organising it | Can't afford a pension | Other sources offer a better return for investment | Other sources will be adequate including state pension or savings etc | Too much financial risk | Don't understand pensions | Spouse's pension | |
| Male | 35.2 | 32 | 15.4 | 3.9 | 8.3 | 3.6 | 1.1 |
| Female | 39 | 39.3 | 2.5 | 9.2 | 2.2 | 4.8 | 3.1 |
| 25-34 | 54.2 | 25.8 | 12.9 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 3.8 | 0 |
| 35-44 | 26 | 33.3 | 13.2 | 8.1 | 10 | 5.6 | 2.9 |
| 45-54 | 23 | 35.6 | 5.3 | 13 | 9 | 3.6 | 10.4 |
| 55-69 | 34.6 | 31.7 | 1.4 | 20.2 | 5.6 | 6.6 | 0 |
At an overall level, workers 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 57.6% of workers with no pension coverage, while one in twelve (7.9%) stated that they would rely on savings or investments and 23% were undecided. Spouse or partner's occupational or personal pension was cited as an expected source of income on retirement by 3.7% of workers with no pension coverage.
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