Workers at a quarter of British firms have cut back on pension saving in response to the recession, while employer contributions have remained largely unaffected, a survey published yesterday showed.
The survey of more than 330 companies running defined contribution pension schemes found only 10 percent of companies had cut payments into schemes.
The study, conducted by actuaries Punter Southall, also found high levels of disenchantment with political involvement in pension savings, with 13 percent of respondents skeptical of any improvement to pensions following a possible change of government this year.
The survey showed that 94 percent of companies now use a defined contribution scheme, whereby payouts are determined by the value of savings.
The traditional defined benefit schemes place less obligation on workers to sacrifice salary for pension savings and payouts are set as a proportion of the employee’s salary at retirement.
This model has been largely abandoned by British firms because of their strain on corporate resources as well as in response to a trend towards greater movement between jobs by workers.
The survey found 92 percent of responding employers now believe the responsibility for retirement saving rests primarily with the employee.
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