Briefing Notes

Briefing Note 42 - Will Personal Accounts increase pension saving?

The Government has proposed three key reforms to private pensions policy:

• Auto enrolment into work based pension schemes for eligible employees.
• The introduction of compulsory employer contributions for employees who remain opted in to work-based saving.
• The introduction of a new national pensions savings scheme, called personal accounts.

The Government has said that its reforms aim to increase the number of people saving for a pension and for personal accounts to complement, rather than compete with, existing good-quality pension provision.

This Briefing Note summarises findings from a PPI research report Will Personal Accounts increase pension saving?. The PPI  analysed the potential impact of the proposed reforms on pension saving in the UK. In particular, scenario analysis is used to project the number of new savers in work-based pension schemes if employees and other individuals respond in a variety of ways, and the level and split of total annual pension contributions and assets between existing types of provision and personal accounts.