45% of working age people not saving toward a pension at all

[FernFaery]

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/may/19/britons-not-saving-enough-retire-pensions-commission

Another looming crisis!

This worries me as it must become means tested surely.

I am debating adding to the pension contributions for my 18 years who works one day a week at a part time job I can pay £600 to top it up and give her a year in national pension however she is likely to be a big earner so I wonder if it is worth it. If she wasn’t I would offer to top it up willingly. I retire in 2 years (early) and get state pension in 12 but I think they will take it away by then ! Argh

That's not quite right that figure is of people 'available for work'.
Those is groups with no capacity for work or low capacity for work and on disability benefits for eg aren't counted, nor are adults studying full time.

I would hate to see my children struggling and unable to contribute to a pension once they begin working life. But I guess they made their choices. So difficult to save while paying rent too. It’s a shame you couldn’t have postponed downsizing until they were financially stable.

It might be the best thing you can do for your child, but when they need to learn to drive to be able to get a job, so you save for their driving lessons, then the car, then comes the car insurance which even a working teenager would struggle to pay on their own.....then the money saved to help towards a house deposit.....most people struggle to do this for their children let alone pay into a pension for when they are 60+!

There's no way a pension should take priority over driving and getting on the housing ladder....

Because shared housing isn't appropriate for everyone
Because circumstances change
Because moving areas if you were born in an expensive area again costs money

etc

Goodness I would hope not. Uc should not be available for someone to pay rent on an property to live in alone when they could share with others. I think there are already age restrictions on this in place.

Indeed. Up to 20% of young people 18-24 are not in education, work or training, and are already on benefits.

Oh, you missed the thread we had the other night.
Someone suggested finding work that provides accommodation too, such as some hotel work or on a farm. They seemed to think it was a suitable suggestion even if you had had 3 kids in tow too. Or sofa surfing... with kids.

It would be suitable for single persons, and couples. I’ve seen several such ads over the last few weeks, I would absolutely apply if I was a single person or one half of a couple looking to save. You seem to find it mildly hilarious?

UC is desperately needed by people working FT on the NMW and I wouldn’t want it taken away from them. I’m desperate for work not to be deincentivised more than it already has. I couldn’t care less about somebody working full time delivering parcels or in a warehouse who gets an additional £400 a month or whatever.

Oh dear.

Nothing surprises me on threads like this any more. I remember one months ago where someone suggested that if she was me, she'd simply move to a cheaper area into a smaller house and then I magically wouldn't need UC.

So easy. 😂

Now that is funny,

Not easy but equally we encourage migrants who move continents for work and praise their pragmatism, but when it comes to white Brits we’re somehow better than that?

With kids, yes. But without?

I have a workplace scheme, statutory minimum, minimum wage … it’s barely worth having

So. No one gets a state pension right? But if you can’t work due to disability you just get a different type of benefit - universal credit? But it will most likely top you up to the same amount? It’s kind of like when the government say if you don’t work and pay NI you won’t get your state pension! But then just top people up with pension credit to the same amount. So currently those people who rely solely on state worked and paid NI get that state pension. Those who never worked in their life get pension credit to the same amount but with extra benefits like council tax help.

Honestly I work with the public. Despite what mumsnet apparently sees all the time, I don’t think many 70+ year olds will be able to do full time work. Very few will even manage part time.

@BoredZelda you don't need to wait till 18 children can have one my 13 year old has had one for several years ( sipp) self invested personal pension .

I work and currently can’t afford to pay into my pension. My workplace pension is incredibly generous and I hope to pay into it again but with a young family and rising debts/col, it is simply not a priority.

Did you miss the bit where I said someone considered it a serious suggestion for someone with children?

Not any more it isn't - the 'opt out' system was got rid of a few years ago.

This. Too many people continue in self employment when its not earning them enough.

Private pensions have been available back as far as the 1970s. They were snappily called S226A pensions then (the predecessor to Personal Pensions), and anyone not in a workplace pension could have one.

(I know because my employer was a life and pension company which offered them as part of its product range.)

The point is even if I somehow managed to do it, I would still get UC and it would be expensive to move.

Not an option in my case anyway for several reasons, finances is just one of them.

Which is all well and good, but when people who are working are choosing between heating and eating putting 10% of their income aside is just not going to happen -that would mean they could neither heat not eat.

According to the ONS, despite the cost of living, travel remains a priority for people with less than 20% of people opting to have a cheaper U.K. holiday or going without. Annually, as a nation we spend £78.6 billion on overseas travel annually. We spend £63.75 billion on takeaway food. £27.4 billion on alcohol to drink at home and £24 billion in pubs. We spent £14 billion in pensions. We spend 12 times as much on holidays, drink and takeaway food than we do on pensions.

@BoredZelda those stats are frightening. I wonder what the Venn diagrams are for those holiday makers, take away eaters and pub drinkers and no / small pension contributions, assuming the State pension will look after them?

Or is it the “haves” as identified upthread? more likely?

it’d be really interesting to see how all those figures map across income and spending priorities.