This means that there may be a peak in workplace pension wealth as many future retirees will have a much lower workplace pension income.
Source: Gov pension income data
Final salary schemes have “all but withered away” in the private sector, with the number of private sector employees paying into a final salary pension reducing from 3.5mn in 2006 to just under 0.9mn in 2022 as thousands of schemes closed their doors.
“The figures highlight the importance of workplace and private pension saving as a key part of most people’s retirement income,” she added.
“On average, pensioners' workplace pension income almost matches the level of their state pension and benefit income and they would struggle to live on the state pension alone.
“Despite rising average pension wealth, there is still a significant minority of pensioners living in poverty, especially if they are single.”
For single pensioners, 22 per cent of households were in the bottom fifth of households in 2022 in terms of income after housing costs, compared to only 15 per cent in 2010.
Women are also more likely to be living in poverty in retirement, with 21 per cent of single women in the bottom fifth compared with 17 per cent of single men.”
sonia.rach@ft.com
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