The UK state pension is not big enough to support the bare minimum standard of living for a single person, according to a new report. And it warns that a quarter of employees are not on track to be able to afford it.
Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association analysis suggest only half the number of single employees are on track to expect a lifestyle between minimum and moderate.
The ‘’comfortable’’ retirement living standard includes luxuries such as regular beauty treatments, theatre trips and three weeks holiday in Europe a year. The annual budget needed for a comfortable retirement living standard has increased since 2019 by £600 to £33,600 for one person and £2,200 to £49,700 for a couple.
Only about one in six single employees are projected to have an income between moderate and comfortable.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development figures in 2018 showed the UK paid out just 29% of average earnings on pensions, the lowest of any developed country. Top of the table were the Netherlands, which pays 100.6% of average earnings, Portugal at 94% and Italy at 93.2%.
The report from the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association gives the information for this headline. It can be accessed here: https://www.plsa.co.uk/press-centre/news/article/retirement-living-standards-updated-to-reflect-expectations-changed-by-lockdown-living