Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
    • Moody's - Climate Risk Insurers series
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • August 2019
08

Pension contributions ranked by sector

Open-access content Friday 16th August 2019 — updated 5.50pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

Financial services provide their employees with higher pension contributions as a percentage of salaries than any other sector, a new study of UK industries has revealed.

2


The findings show that employer contributions at financial and insurance firms are 9.5% on average, with schools and other educational services close behind on 9.3%.

Electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditioning supply companies complete the top three, with average contributions of 7.1%, according to the research from Profile Pensions.

At the other end of the scale, agriculture, forestry and fishing workers are typically offered the minimum legal rate, which was 2% when the latest official pensions data was published.

Accommodation and food services were the next worst sectors for employer contributions on just 2.1%, followed by the arts, which only offered 2.5% on average.

"The difference between industries is remarkable," said Profile Pensions' chief investment officer, Michelle Gribbin.

"While some you might expect, the high pensions in education mean teachers are likely to be better off in retirement than those in typically high-earning careers like real estate or logistics."

The research also uncovered significant pension contribution variations between men and women depending on sectors.

Education, in particular, favours women, with an average contribution rate of 9.3%, while men receive only 7.9%. However, men typically get higher contributions in technical roles.

In electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditioning supply, for example, men receive contributions that are 3.3% higher than women. There is a 0.9% difference in manufacturing.

Gribbin said it is important for government policy to avoid impacting women's pension contributions should they choose to interrupt their career for caring reasons.

However, he added: "Firms should fully adopt a policy of 'equal pay and pension contributions for equal roles', applied to both full-time and part-time workers.

"As a further step, firms regularly reporting on gender disparities in income and pension contributions really helps ensure good transparency and commitment on this issue."


Sign up to our free newsletter here and receive a weekly roundup of news concerning the actuarial profession

This article appeared in our August 2019 issue of The Actuary .
Click here to view this issue

You may also be interested in...

istock

UK FinTech investment doubles

The first six months of this year saw UK FinTech companies attract nearly double the investment they did over the same period in 2018, although funding declined sharply worldwide.
Thursday 15th August 2019
Open-access content
2

FTSE 350 pension deficits plummet

The UK's largest listed companies have seen their pension deficits fall by almost a third over the last year, with nearly half of schemes now running a surplus.
Wednesday 14th August 2019
Open-access content
2

Pension buyouts hit record high

UK pension schemes recently completed their busiest ever 12-month period for buy-ins and buyouts, data from Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP) has revealed.
Tuesday 13th August 2019
Open-access content
2

Two in five drivers unaware of telematics insurance savings

More than two out of five UK drivers are unaware that they could save money by switching to telematics-based car insurance, a YouGov survey has uncovered.
Monday 19th August 2019
Open-access content
2

AI insurance premiums to soar by 2024

Artificial intelligence (AI) will help underwrite $20bn (£17bn) worth of insurance premiums by 2024, a more than fifteen-fold increase on the £1.3bn forecast for this year.
Monday 12th August 2019
Open-access content
2

UK government urged to raise state pension age to 75

The UK’s state pension age is unsustainable and should be raised to 70 by 2028 and 75 by 2035, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) think tank has recommended.
Tuesday 20th August 2019
Open-access content
Filed in
08
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Senior Reserving Analyst

London (City of)
Negotiable
Reference
149485

Senior GI Modeler - Capital and Planning

London (Central)
£ excellent
Reference
149436

Risk Oversight Manager

Flexible / hybrid with a minimum of 2 days per week office-based
£ excellent
Reference
149435
See all jobs »
 
 

Today's top reads

 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2023 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ