Young people unaware of their pension plight

Large
numbers of young people face poverty in retirement unless big changes are made
to pensions law and young people wake up to their pensions plight, the TUC has
warned.

Fewer
young people than ever are in pension schemes, with Government figures showing
that less than half of those under 30 years of age are currently saving for a
pension.

This
compares with 62 per cent of those born in the 1950s, and 73 per cent of those
born in the 1960s started a pension before they were 30 years old.

The
TUC said the biggest reason was a retreat by employers from contributing to a
decent occupational pension.

Union
figures show that when employers make no contribution to work-based pensions,
only 13 per cent of employees save. When employers make a contribution of more
than 5 per cent, more than two-thirds of employees join a scheme.

TUC
general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Young people have started a slow
pensions time bomb. Unless they take out pensions, a generation faces poverty
in old age, dependent on the generosity of whatever government is in power.

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"The
key change that needs to be made is to compel employers to make a proper
contribution to pensions,” he said.

By Michael Millar