Quarterly Briefing Quarter 3 - 2021

Welcome to the third Pension Quarterly Briefing in which we provide information on a few significant events in the pension’s world.

The briefing is a supplement to the information contained on the Usdaw Pensions website, which contains a host of pension related information about workplace, personal and state pensions;  www.usdaw.org.uk/Help-Advice/Pensions

So what happened in the third quarter of 2021?
 

1. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has warned that the exit of workers aged between 50 and 65 from the workforce could negatively impact both individuals’ finances and the wider economy
   
   The ONS’s Living longer: impact of working from home on older workers study estimated that if the employment rate of people in the age group matched that of those aged 35 to 49 years, it would add more than 5 per cent to UK gross domestic product (GDP), equating to around £88bn.
    
   Living longer: impact of working from home on older workers - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
    
2. A Canada Life report found that almost half of UK adults support the triple lock promise – although it found a big generational divide
    
   Over 50’s are much more likely to want to keep the triple lock promise with almost 6 in 10 (59%) supportive of maintaining it compared to around a third (34%) of those under 50. Women are perhaps more likely to see both sides of the argument, with more than a quarter (27%) saying they don’t know, compared to less than one in ten (9%) men.
    
   Almost half of UK adults support triple lock promise – although big generational divide (canadalife.co.uk)
    
3. FCA relaunches ScamSmart campaign
    
   New research from The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that savers are nine times more likely to accept advice from someone online than in person. With over £2 million lost to pension scams since the start of 2021, the FCA are urging savers to ‘flip the context’ and imagine what they would do if they received pension advice from a stranger while enjoying a quiet pint in their local, or out shopping with friends.
   
   You can help savers understand the risks by directing them to the FCA’s ScamSmart webpage.
   
   ScamSmart - Avoid investment and pension scams | FCA
    
4. British Women hit by gender pension gap at every stage of their career
   UK women have smaller pension pots than men at every stage of their career, with the gap widening to as much as 56% at retirement.. After analysing data from approximately four million of its pension scheme members, Legal & General (L&G) found that the gender pension gap remains largely unchanged at 17%.
    
   British women hit by gender pension gap at every stage of career : Legal & General (legalandgeneralgroup.com)
    
5. Four in 10 fail to check their state pension forecast before retirement
    
   The research was conducted by Opinium on behalf of Just Group among 1,043 UK retired and semi-retired adults aged greater than 55 between 21st and 26th April 2021
    
   almost-4-in-10-failed-to-check-their-state-pension-forecast-before-retirement.pdf (justgroupplc.co.uk)
    
6. The Parliamentary Ombudsman has ruled that Government officials were too slow to tell many women they would be affected by the rising state pension age
    
   The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has found failings in the way the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) communicated changes to women’s State Pension age.
    
   Women’s State Pension age communications inadequate, Ombudsman finds | Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)

If you have any questions or require information on any pension related matter please contact the Pensions Department at Usdaw; [email protected]