Pension crisis

Overall pension scheme membership and contribution levels have continued to fall, according to the Office for National Statistics. Between 2004 and 2006 total active membership of occupational pension schemes (still making contributions) fell from 9.8 million to 9.6 million.

This is primarily down to a crisis of provision in the private sector, where active membership fell from 4.8 million to 4.4 million (active membership in public sector schemes rose slightly from 5.0 to 5.1 million).