Nearly one in five UK workers have never reviewed their pension, according to the latest research.
A survey commissioned by Standard Life to commemorate the 10th anniversary of auto-enrolment reveals that there are significant gaps in workplace pensions awareness. Women are more likely than men to have never reviewed their pension, at 25% versus 13%. People on lower incomes are also more likely to have never reviewed their pension savings.
More than third – 34% – of those with an income of £10,000–£20,000 have never reviewed their pension, falling to 21% of those who earn £20,000–£30,000. This drops to 15% among those earning £30,000–£40,000 and 14% among people with an income of £40,000–£50,000.
However, 20% of workers say they review their pension once a year, 16% do so every six months, and 12% every other month. While 58% of workers can define auto-enrolment, 19% do not know what it is and a further 23% are unable to describe it correctly.
For those that review their pension, the main prompt for doing so is receiving their annual statement, at 28%, rising to 37% among 35 to 54-year-olds. This compares to 18% among 18 to 34-year-olds and 28% among those aged 55 and over.
Standard Life says the workplace pension participation rate was 79% by April last year, compared to 47% when auto-enrolment was introduced.
