Proportion of staff in pension schemes down

In April 2011, the proportion of employees who belonged to a workplace pension scheme was below half (48%) for the first time since 1997, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The pension results section of the 2011 Annual survey of hours and earnings showed that 83% of public sector employees and 33% of private sector employees were members of a workplace pension scheme.

The proportion of employees with defined benefit (DB) pension schemes continued to fall. In 2011, 30% of employees had this type of pension, compared with 46% in 1997.

Membership of defined contribution pension schemes also fell slightly, from 9% to 6%. However, membership of group personal pension plans and group stakeholder pension schemes was 10% in 2011, compared with 1% in 1997 (before stakeholder pensions were introduced).

www.employeebenefits.co.uk/item/14497/23/5/3