Scottish Widows’ Research Highlights Significant Changes in UK Retirement Savings Landscape Since 1953 Coronation

…By Henry George for TDPel Media.

Scottish Widows, a pensions and savings provider, has released research showing that the number of people receiving the state pension in the UK has more than doubled since the last coronation.

Despite female employment levels having increased over the decades, a gender gap in pensions remains.

The research compares the UK’s retirement savings landscape with that of the previous coronation in 1953, noting that the state pension in 1953 was £1 and 12 shillings per week (equivalent to £37.39 in today’s money), whereas the full new state pension is currently £203.85 per week.

Fewer than five million people received the state pension in 1953, compared with 12.6 million in August 2022.

The research notes that, with people living longer, their pensions will also need to sustain them for a longer period.

According to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, there were around 15,120 centenarians (people aged 100 years and over) in the UK in 2020.

Following the Second World War, there was a sharp increase in the number of births in the year mid-1919 to mid-1920.

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While female employment rates have risen over the decades, women today retire with an average of £123,000 less in their pension than men.

Robert Cochran, senior retirement specialist at Scottish Widows, stated that “Since the last coronation, the landscape has monumentally changed.

In 1953 we had a young Queen, whereas now we have a ‘pensioner king’ and over-65s are a much greater proportion of the population, therefore playing a far more active role in modern society… Today’s pension challenges would have been unimaginable during the last coronation, where back then it was something that happened when you reached a certain age – now we have to take action and make choices decades before we retire.”

Scottish Widows’ research highlights the importance of saving into a workplace pension, and also notes that tracking different pension pots would have been an alien concept to working people 70 years ago.

The average worker today changes jobs 11 times, compared with the past where many workers stayed in the same job for life.

The research used various sources, including ONS and government figures and its own data.

Scottish Widows’ research shows the significant changes in the UK’s retirement savings landscape since the last coronation in 1953.

The number of people receiving the state pension has more than doubled, and despite the rise in female employment levels over the decades, a gender gap in pensions still exists.

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The research also highlights that, with people living longer, their pensions will also need to sustain them for a longer period.

The importance of saving into a workplace pension is emphasized, as well as tracking different pension pots, which was an alien concept to working people 70 years ago.

The research uses various sources and underlines the need for action and choices decades before retirement.

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