Workers ignorant of auto pension enrolment

Almost 70 per cent of employees in Britain have little or no knowledge of the Government's plan to automatically enroll people into workplace pensions later this year.

A report from Aviva shows the challenges ahead for the pensions industry when it comes to getting Britain's workers saving. New rules, which take effect on 1 October 2012, mean that workers will automatically be enrolled into their company's pension scheme unless they opt out.

But Aviva's Working Lives report shows that despite pension auto-enrolment coming into effect in just five months' time, almost 70 per cent of employees have little or no knowledge of what this means.

The insurer's survey also found the amount individuals contribute to their workplace pension peaks between the ages of 35 and 44 and then falls as people age. The main barrier to saving for retirement is not having enough spare cash.

Aviva's managing director of corporate benefits, Graham Boffey, said: "The advent of automatic enrolment will help many save for their retirement for the first time and the focus needs to be on encouraging people to stay in these schemes."