17 July 2006 - Publication of DWP research report no. 370: Public attitudes to personal accounts: report of a qualitative study
Today, the Department for Work and Pensions published the findings of research exploring public attitudes to automatic enrolment into personal accounts. This study forms part of a programme of research and analysis to gather evidence to inform the Government’s proposals on personal accounts as set out in the White Paper on pension reform published in May 2006.
The report presents findings from in-depth, qualitative research carried out on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions by the Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute.
The main findings from focus groups and in-depth interviews with the public are:
- Participants across all groups welcomed the idea of automatic enrolment into personal accounts as a good solution to bridge the savings gap.
- The majority of participants saw an employer contribution as an important incentive to save in a personal account.
- Participants’ spontaneous suggestions on what employees should contribute ranged between five and ten per cent of their gross salaries. The majority saw this as being an affordable amount that would go some way to providing an adequate income for their retirement.
- The majority of participants believed that it was important that the state offered a contribution – to make it clear that the Government wants to support people to save for retirement.
- The contribution levels proposed by the Pensions Commission (four per cent post-tax employee contribution, three per cent from the employer, and one per cent from the state) were generally well received and felt to offer a fair balance of responsibilities.
- Being able to transfer a personal account between employers was thought to be a particularly important feature of personal accounts. In contrast, liquidity (being able to borrow against or withdraw funds before pensionable age) was not a popular option.
- In general participants were not keen on the idea of choice about funds or providers.
- The idea of a default fund was therefore well received as was the proposal for a National Pension Savings Scheme, with centralised administration, collection and investment of funds.
- Participants raised the idea of a guaranteed fund – something that would grow by at least as much as in a bank or building society or reflect inflation.
Notes to editors
- DWP Research Report No. 370 – Public attitudes to personal accounts: report of a qualitative study is published on 17 July 2006 by Corporate Document Services. The research was conducted on behalf of DWP by Suzanne Hall, Nick Pettigrew and Paul Harvey from the Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute.
- Free summaries are available from Paul Noakes at the DWP Social Research Branch (Room 4-26a, Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT, 020 7962 8557). The report and summary are available free on the DWP website – http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5
- The qualitative research with the public involved a series of 22 focus groups with people from different age groups, incomes, pension status, employment type and regions, follow-up interviews with 20 focus group attendees (self-employed and those not saving in a pension), and one-to-one interviews with eight carers. The research was undertaken in early 2006, following the publication of the Pensions Commission’s second report.
- Qualitative research is illustrative and identifies the range of opinions and experiences of the participants and explores the reasons for these views. These studies provide indicative findings.
Prepared by: Department for Work and Pensions Pensions Analysis Directorate