Update of analysis on Automatic Enrolment 2016

24 October 2016

The Department for Work and Pensions has published an update of the 2015 analysis of the impact of automatic enrolment on pension saving, the number of workers affected by automatic enrolment and more detailed analysis of the characteristics of this population.

Key findings

Pensions savings estimates

Annual saving in workplace pensions is estimated to increase by £17 billion as a result of automatic enrolment. Of this, workers are estimated to be saving an additional £8 billion a year in a workplace pension.
Employers are estimated to contribute an extra £6 billion per year into workplace pensions once automatic enrolment has been fully rolled out.
Small and micro employers (those with 1-49 employees) are estimated to be contributing an extra £2 billion a year.
Tax relief on the additional pension contributions made by workers as a result of automatic enrolment is estimated to be around £2 billion a year.

Participation estimates

The eligible target population is estimated at 11 million workers.
Of these 10 million workers are estimated to be newly saving or saving more as a result of automatic enrolment.
These estimates have increased since the 2015 analysis of the impact of automatic enrolment due to changes in DWP modelling to incorporate more recent data. See revised methodology section (page 11) for further information.
36% of the eligible target group is female, reflecting underlying labour market factors (such as earnings, working patterns and participation rates).

Eligibility of workers for automatic enrolment

76% of workers meet both the earnings and age eligibility criteria for automatic enrolment. 19% are not eligible because they do not meet the earnings criteria - of these over half (10% out of the 19%) earn over £5,824 and have the right to opt-in to a workplace pension with contributions from their employer. 5% of workers earn over the earnings threshold but are not eligible because they do not meet the age criteria. Of these 6% meet neither the age nor the earnings criteria.
Of these 65% of female workers meet the eligibility criteria for automatic enrolment. 31% are not eligible because they do not meet the earnings criteria; of these over half(16% out of 31%) earn more than £5,824 and have the right to opt-in to a workplace pension and receive contributions from their employer. 5% of workers earn over the earnings threshold but are not eligible because they do not meet the age criteria. Of these 9% meet neither the age nor earnings criteria.

Demographic analysis of workers

72% of BME workers meet the eligibility criteria for automatic enrolment. 25% are not eligible because they do not meet the earnings criteria; of these over half (15% out of the 25%) earn over £5,824, and have the right to opt-in to a workplace pension with contributions from their employer. 3% of workers earn over the earnings threshold but are not eligible because they do not meet the age criteria. 6% do not meet either the age or earnings criteria.
66% of workers with a disability meet the eligibility criteria for automatic enrolment. 29% are not eligible because they do not meet the earnings criteria; of these over half earn (16% out of 29%) over £5,824 and have the right to opt-in to a workplace pension and receive contributions from their employer. 5% of workers earn over the earnings threshold but are not eligible because they do not meet the age criteria. 7% of workers with a disability meet neither the age nor the earnings criteria.

Multiple jobs

Around half a million multiple jobholders meet the age criteria for automatic enrolment. Of these 330,000 earn over £10,000 in at least one job and are therefore eligible for automatic enrolment.
A further 90,000 workers earn over £5,824 and are eligible to opt-in to a workplace pension and receive contributions from their employer.

Earnings by firm size

42% of workers, aged at least 22 and under SPa, and employed by micro employers (1-4 employees) earn below the earning trigger. For those working for an employer with 5-9 employees, 24% earn below the earnings trigger. Workers are more likely to earn over the earnings trigger if they are working for a medium or large employer. 14% of all workers between the ages of 22 and SPa earn below £10,000.

Earnings by industrial sector

In the majority of industries at least 70% of employees aged between 22 and SPa earn over £10,000.
In the Manufacturing sector 97% of employees earn over £10,000 and in the Wholesale, Retail and Motor repair services sector 80% of employees earn over £10,000.
In the Household Activities sector 63% of employees earn less than £10,000 a year, however this sector is comparatively small.
Overall, across all of the industries, the majority of workers (86%) earn over £10,000.