One in five know little or nothing about pensions, DWP research finds

The latest British Social Attitudes Survey was carried out into attitudes towards working in later life.

Its findings have prompted the DWP to work on a strategy to encourage more older people to stay in work, which will be published in 2017.

Just over one in ten people said they had a “good knowledge of pension issues”, while just over one in five (21 per cent) say they “know little or nothing” about pensions.

This left around a third who say they have “a reasonable basic knowledge” (36 per cent), or say that their knowledge “is very patchy” (32 per cent).

Younger people and those on lower incomes were more likely to say they knew nothing about pensions.

The research found the majority of people – 65 per cent – expected to retire in their 60s, while 17 per cent expected to retire in their 70s.

Respondents who were currently employed were offered a list of things that their employer could do to help them keep working, and the opportunity to work flexible hours was the most commonly chosen option.

Nearly half (47 per cent) said they would take this up to help them work longer while a similar proportion (46 per cent) would take up part-time working.

Employment minister Damian Hinds said: “There are more older people in work than ever before, but we know that many leave the workforce earlier than they’d like.

“Having greater flexibility over when and for how long they work is clearly something that appeals to many people.

“Encouragingly, we’re seeing more employers taking on older workers as they recognise the benefits of having them on the payroll.

“But we want to go further to help more older people stay in employment, which is why in the new year we will publish a strategy led by employers on how we plan to do it.”

The British Social Attitudes Survey is an annual face to face survey of approximately 4,300 people in private households, aged 18 and over, selected at random to provide a representative picture of the population.