Pete Glancy, Head of Pensions Policy at Scottish Widows, has commented on the link between worklessness and pension poverty, in response to Alan Milburn’s report into young people and work.
Being out of work can set young people back before they’ve even started saving. More than 40% of 22 to 29-year-olds are already at risk of pension poverty, more than any other age group.
If those three million can’t get on the career ladder early, they won’t get onto the savings ladder either, and catching up quickly becomes harder.
With 12.2 million already facing retirement poverty across the UK, the big risk is that this problem only grows unless young people can find stable work and start saving sooner.
Scottish Widows recent Retirement Report data shows that 22–29-year-olds are least likely to be saving into a pension each month. Just over half of 22–29-year-olds say they do this, compared to two-thirds of people between 30-64.
Meanwhile, 22–29-year-olds are also more likely than any other age group to say the following makes it harder for them to save:
- 41% say income is too low
- 16% say income is too unpredictable
