<p><p><p><p>We describe the trajectory of pension reform in the United Kingdom, which has focussed on keeping the cost of public pension programmes down during a period of steady population ageing whilst attempting to maintain an adequate minimum level of income security for low income households in retirement. Instruments for achieving these aims have been to target public benefits on low income households, permitting individuals to opt out of the second tier of the public programme into private retirement accounts, and the use of tax incentives to encourage additional private retirement saving. Frequent reforms to the pension programme raise the question of whether households can make reasonable private retirement saving provision in the light of growing complexity and potential shortcomings in individual decision-making. This paper sheds some light on these issues.</p></p></p></p>
Authors
Deputy Director
Carl, a Deputy Director, is an editor of the IFS Green Budget, is expert on the UK pension system and sits on the Social Security Advisory Committee.
Research Associate University of Bologna
Matthew is Associate Professor at the University of Bologna focusing on consumption and savings choices and how policy affects them.
Research Associate University of Sussex
Richard is an IFS Research Associate, a Part-time Professor of Economics at the University of Sussex and a Visiting Professor of Economics at UCL.
Report details
- Publisher
- McMaster University
Suggested citation
R, Disney and C, Emmerson and M, Wakefield. (2007). Pension provision and retirement saving: lessons from the United Kingdom. Ontario, Canada: McMaster University. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/pension-provision-and-retirement-saving-lessons-united-kingdom (accessed: 19 May 2024).
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