Where employers were willing to consider doing more, a third said that equality would be a driving motive in changing their pensions approach, compared with a fifth that said boosting retirement savings among lowest earners would be their priority, and an equivalent number that said they would focus additional efforts on those most engaged with retirement saving.
“Without policy change, it’s unlikely that most employers will actively set out to re-evaluate their pension contributions approach in the near future,” Phillips explained.
“There are, however, pockets of opportunity in particular where an employer can support their employees to save more for retirement at little or no extra cost to the organisation, or where there is also a benefit for the employer such as with a salary sacrifice approach.”
Phillips also pointed to the findings regarding auto-escalation and opt-down models as avenues deserving further exploration.
“While these mechanisms move further from the ‘equal contributions’ goal of some policy recommendations, they may well be appropriate for many workers, particularly those with low or moderate incomes,” she said.
“We were also interested to see the appetite among employers for supporting shorter-term savings. Structures that support some balance for workers between higher pension contributions and some additional, more accessible saving may similarly represent an attractive way through.”
Benjamin Mercer is a senior reporter at FTAdviser's sister publication Pensions Expert
