Generational differences shift attitudes and approaches to pensions
Contributing to a workplace pension scheme is not only a legal requirement for employers under auto-enrolment legislation but also an area where the workplace can provide real value to employees.
Yet research from the Pensions Management Institute in March 2024 found that the cost-of-living crisis has caused almost half (49%) of working adults to change their retirement plans, including almost a quarter (24%) who plan to delay retirement and nearly a quarter (23%) who have reduced their pension contributions. A further one in 20 (5%) have stopped making contributions entirely.
Employers note that while retirement planning is important for all employees, how individuals engage with pensions varies across generations.
While younger employees are typically seen to be less engaged with retirement planning and pensions than their older colleagues, evidence suggests this is changing.
Aviva’s Working Lives Report 2024 reveals that younger people are more likely to take up support from their employer by using the financial education programmes on offer, while employers say there is a growing propensity for younger employees to initiate conversations about retirement saving.
It used to be employees approaching retirement who asked about pensions, but now our younger team members are showing a real interest in finding out more, too.
This is particularly true of younger employees who are earning enough to put them in the higher tax bracket. Employers are receiving increasing numbers of questions relating to how saving into a pension can help mitigate tax bills.
However, employers noted that the cost-of-living crisis, coupled with the difficulty some younger people face in getting on the property ladder, have meant a shift in focus from retirement savings to more immediate priorities, such as debt management and saving for a house.
The increasing cost of living and the challenges of paying for social care have changed how different generations think about pensions savings.
