New research has uncovered which industries offer the best pension contributions from employers in the UK, with the civil service taking top spot.
The study, conducted by comparison site Investing Reviews, analysed data from the Office for National Statistics to establish which industry has the highest percentage of its workforce receiving employer pension contributions of 20% or more.
Employers in the civil service – or public administration and defence, including compulsory social security – were found to be the most generous, with 67.9% contributing 20% or more to their employees’ pension pot.
Education was the second-best sector, on 64%, while the finance and insurance industry was ranked seventh, on 7.6%.
“With the cost-of-living crisis playing on the minds of many, working in a sector that offers good pension contributions can bring ease of mind when thinking about future finances,” a spokesperson from Investing Reviews said.
“This study serves as an insightful guide as to the sectors where employer contributions are higher than others.”
The top 10 industries for pensions are shown below:
The researchers said that high contributions in the civil service and education are likely due to these industries both being largely based in the state sector, as well as the private sector.
Interestingly, the study also found that working in wholesale and retail trade, including the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, results in the lowest percentage of employer contributions of 20% or more, at only 1.3%.
This comes after separate research found that more than one million eligible UK workers at small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) are not currently saving into a workplace pension at all.
The findings – based on figures from the Department for Work and Pensions – show that 20% employees at companies with 5-49 staff are not contributing to a workplace pension, which is equivalent to around 803,000 workers.
A further 12% of employees at businesses with 50-249 eligible staff are not participating, signifying an extra 374,000 non-savers.
“It is clear that employees at smaller organisations are falling through the cracks at a greater rate than among larger employers,” said Rachel Meadows, head of pensions and savings at Broadstone, which carried out the analysis.
“This is perhaps because these businesses are less likely to have a plan in place to communicate the need to start accumulating pension savings for later-life.
“With pensions being one of the biggest employee benefit costs for most employers, allocating a small extra spend on boosting staff knowledge can reap a big reward.”
Image credit: iStock
Table credit: Investing Reviews
Author: Chris Seekings