Confidence in pension schemes has risen significantly in among those workers who have already started to save, the National Association of Pension Funds revealed today.
The Confidence Index, part of the NAPF's Workplace pensions survey, provides a snapshot of how confident people felt about their pensions saving and retirement income.
Of the 1,300 respondents to the poll, 59% said they were confident about their pension plans. This included both those who had been automatically enrolled and those who had voluntarily joined a company scheme. But among workers who were not saving for a pension, confidence was 28%. Men, at 53%, were more likely to be more confident than women who had confidence levels of 35%.
NAPF chief executive Joanne Segars said: 'We knew that automatic enrolment would be a game changer but it would appear that it has had a positive impact on confidence in pensions, too, which is very welcome news indeed. It's heartening, too, that three-quarters of employees yet to be automatically enrolled have heard about the scheme.'
The biggest rise in confidence was seen among younger workers, aged between 18 and 44, which was up 17% compared to last year.
The NAPF also found that 18- to 24-year-olds, who had started saving towards their retirement were most likely to consider saving more than those aged between 45 and 64.
Meanwhile, the opt-out rates for those who have been auto-enrolled are 12% which was relatively low, the NAPF said. Of these people who had chosen to opt out of auto-enrolment, almost half (44%) said that they could not afford to save into a pension.
Segars said: 'As up to 10 million people are brought into pension savings by 2018, the challenge for all of us in the industry is to keep opt-out rates low, increase confidence in pensions and encourage people to save more for their retirement.'
Income and comfort at retirement remained a key concern for individuals, but the biggest worry was fear of not enjoying retirement. The NAPF said this was 'unsurprising' given that the average defined contribution pot size at retirement is £28,000.