The introduction of the National Employment Savings Trust in the United Kingdom has increased pension membership.
Participation in pensions rose in 2013 for the first time since 2006 and represented the largest rise since records began in 1997.
The figures were collected in April 2013 when automatic enrollment had been running for just six months and enrollment stood at just 500,000. The latest figures released by the Pensions Regulator show this has now climbed to 3.2 million.
In 2013, 50% of all employees were members of a pension plan. This is a rise from 47% the previous year.
In the private sector, 51% of employees in the largest companies (those with 5,000 or more employees) were members of a plan, a jump from 36% in 2012.
Employees under 30 are less likely to be members of a workplace pension scheme than all other age bands, except those age 65 and over. However, there has been a significant increase in pension participation for this age group.
Thirty-seven percent of employees between the ages of 22 and 29 were members of a workplace pension in 2013, compared with 31% in 2012, the largest increase for any age band.
“Our reforms to pensions are working,” says Minister for Pensions Steve Webb. “More people are saving, and this shows that, even at an early stage, automatic enrollment is having an extraordinary impact.”
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