Understanding responses to pension forecasts: Qualitative research
by Wendy Sykes, Alan Hedges and John Kelly
This research report represents the findings from a project commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in order to enrich understanding of people's responses to pension forecasts.
The evaluation concentrated on two types of forecast - Automatic State Pension Forecasts (APFs), generated by DWP; and Statutory Money Purchase Illustrations (SMPIs), generated by Private Pension providers.
The research comprised around 80 individual in-depth interviews with people who had recently received either an APF or an SMPI forecast. Interviews were conducted between January and June 2007 with people who had been sent forecasts between October 2006 and March 2007.
The report sets out the findings of the research with regards to:
- the main factors which affect the way in which pension forecasts are received, interpreted and understood;
- responses and reactions to individual forecast information;
- responses and reactions to the forecast document as a whole;
- responses to the design and content of the forecast;
- actions taken on the forecast.
May 2008 121 pages 297x210mm
ISBN 978 1 84712 373 2
(850KB)