- Data published today by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) shows 9-in-10 employees (90%) in Great Britain were saving into a workplace pension in 2025, totalling £166 billion active savings
- Male and female participation rates are broadly equal at 89% for men and 90% for women
- Average total pension contributions for a private sector median eligible saver in 2025 was £3,430, compared to £9,730 in public sector
- Concerns remain regarding the adequacy of pension savings, with the Pensions Commission recently reporting that 15 million people across the UK are undersaving for retirement
- Self-employed and some lower earners are still excluded from automatic enrolment
Rachel Vahey, head of public policy at AJ Bell comments:
“Pension participation in Great Britain continues to ride high, with 9-out-of-10 eligible employees saving for retirement. Despite concerns that cost-of-living pressures would dent pension savings, participation has remained at between 88% and 90% since 2019.
“Total workplace pension savings reached £166 billion, an increase of £6.9 billion (4%) on the previous year, showing the amount British employees are saving for retirement is holding steady.
“The figures show what a runaway success automatic enrolment has been in getting people to save in pensions. But harnessing inertia to get people saving into a pension is only half the battle. Contribution rates generally remain too low, meaning not enough Brits are saving enough for a decent income in retirement.
“There are pockets of people still left out in the cold. The self-employed are excluded from automatic enrolment, and despite much lip service paid to the problem of encouraging them to save more, this group of workers remain neglected on the pension saving front.
Low-paid workers
“There is also more that could be done to support the lowest-paid workers. Automatic enrolment into a workplace pension is currently triggered only when someone earns at least £10,000 from a single employer. This means many people – predominantly women – who work multiple part-time jobs, each paying below the threshold, miss out on automatic enrolment despite earning more than £10,000 in total.
“Parliament has already passed legislation to lower the automatic enrolment age from 22 to 18 and to begin pension contributions from the first pound of earnings, a move that could add £500 a year to people’s pension saving, especially helping the lower paid. Yet, years later, there is still no implementation date. It is astonishing that workers are still waiting while the government continues to delay bringing these long-promised reforms into force.
Private sector pension contributions lag behind
“Not all pension savers are treated equally. The latest figures show that pension saving in the public sector remains far more generous than in the private sector, with average annual pension contributions worth almost three times as much (£9,730 compared with £3,430).
“Many people in the private sector will be shocked to discover that it’s normal to receive contributions totalling almost £10,000 a year into a public sector pension.
“This glaring gap raises serious questions about fairness. Millions of private sector workers are expected to fund their own retirement with significantly lower employer support, while many public sector employees continue to benefit from much more generous pension provision. Closing the gap in pension adequacy for private sector workers should be a priority, rather than accepting a two-tier system that risks storing up greater inequality in retirement.
“Most public sector pensions provide a defined benefit (DB) income from an unfunded scheme. That means your employer promises to pay you a retirement income but there is no pot of money that sits behind it. Contributions are a deduction from salary designed to reflect the value of pension built up. Whereas in most private sector schemes the money deducted from your payslip is added to an employer contribution and paid into an investment fund. That fund can then be turned into an income in retirement, either through drawdown, an annuity or both. That makes it hard to compare apples with apples, but there is no doubt that the generosity of public sector retirement provision is streets ahead of pretty much all workplace pensions in the private sector.
“The government still has a long way to go until it can say it has ‘solved’ the UK’s pension problems. It now needs to stop sitting on the fence, and take action to address not only participation but savings rates as well, so that automatic enrolment can really do its magic and turn Brits into a nation of adequate pension savers.”
Source: DWP July 2026
Five tips on how to make the most of your employer’s workplace pension
- Join at the earliest opportunity
“Most people are automatically enrolled into their employer’s workplace pension when they join a new employer. Staying opted in means beginning your pension saving journey. But some who are not automatically enrolled – such as those aged between 18 and 21, and those earning between £6,240 and £10,000 – can ask to join their employer’s scheme and still benefit from those employer contributions.
- Make the most of the free money on offer
“Your employer has to pay towards your pension. But often employers will offer to pay a bit more money if you too increase your contributions. Ask your employer if they will match higher contributions.
- Increase your contributions on a pay rise
“When you get that much deserved promotion or pay rise at work then think about increasing your pension contributions at the same time. After all, you will never miss what you don’t have, so make the change before you get used to the extra money in your pocket.
- Save some or all of your bonus
“We all have plans for what we want to spend bonuses on – be that holidays, work on the house or something else. But earmarking some or all of your work bonus for pension saving can be a useful way to give your pension pot a much-deserved boost.
- Use salary sacrifice
“If your employer offers pension salary sacrifice, think about trading a bit of your gross salary for a higher pension contribution. That way you boost your pension and get to save on tax and national insurance contributions.”
