Subject: Personal Finances

Total household debt in Great Britain rose between 2006/08 and 2008/10. Both financial debt and property debt increased during this period.

This chapter of Pension Trends looks at the broader picture of saving for retirement by using the second wave of the Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS) to estimate financial, property and private pension saving.

This chapter is about how pension schemes ensure that they have the money to fulfil their obligations of paying out benefits to pensioners and their dependents. Specifically, the chapter is about ‘funded’ pension schemes, those in which benefits (the schemes’ liabilities) are met from a fund built up in advance from contributions and returns on investment. It does not cover ‘unfunded’ (or pay-as-you-go) pension schemes – most public sector occupational pension schemes and the state pension system – where liabilities are not underpinned by a fund.

This animated video podcast shows some of the key findings of Pension Trends Chapter 10 – Saving for Retirement.

The proportion of adults who smoke cigarettes has fallen significantly over the last four decades. In 1974, 45% of the population aged 16 and older were cigarette smokers compared with 20% in 2011, according to data from the General Lifestyle Survey (GLF), formerly known as the General Household Survey (GHS).

This chapter examines trends in labour market participation and the transition from work to retirement. Labour market activity is important in the context of pensions because earnings from employment help people to build savings and to make private pension contributions to fund their retirement. Employment also builds entitlement to state pension provision. Questions about pressures on pension adequacy and whether people are extending their working lives in response to increasing life expectancy is one reason why the transition from work to retirement is of interest. The chapter begins by looking at how the economic support ratio, a measure of the economic burden on working people, might be affected by the ageing of the UK population. It then examines changes in labour force participation over time, considers labour force participation of older age groups and examines trends in the average age of withdrawal from the labour market.