Characteristics of people and households without a private pension

11 September 2014

At a time when the pensions landscape is facing substantial change, statistics published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) provide an interesting picture of those who do not have a private pension.

The detailed report and an accompanying infographic or pictorial summary sets out the characteristics of people below retirement age in Great Britain without a private pension, by age, sex, socio-economic status, education, earnings, industry, employment status and region, based on data between 2010 and 2012.

The documents reveal for example that 45% of men and 49% of women in Great Britain did not have any private pension savings in this period. They also show very striking differences between types of occupation, with 95% of men and women working in accommodation and food service industries having no private pension in the UK in 2012 while the corresponding figures for public administration, defence and social security were only 7% of men and 9% of women.