New research has shown that only half of part-time workers have a workplace pension, suggesting that more needs to be done to encourage engagement.
In a survey by Fidelity International, only 50 per cent of respondents with a part-time job said they had a workplace pension, despite it being over four years since workers had to be automatically enrolled into their employers’ workplace pension scheme.
In fact, the salary of most part-time workers far surpasses the £10,000 threshold for automatic enrolment in the workplace pension scheme, with the Office for National Statistics currently recording average part-time annual pay at £13,803.
This suggests that many part-time workers are unaccounted for, or unaware, of the pension they are part of.
Fidelity International also found that industry sector has a significant impact on pension uptake, with 74 per cent in education and healthcare having a workplace pension, falling to just 57 per cent of retail and leisure workers.
The data also shows that women are more likely to have a workplace pension, despite typically earning less.
Women working part-time earnt on average £13,468, compared to the male average of £14,908.
Just over 40 per cent (43 per cent) of male respondents said that they had a workplace pension, compared to over half (53 per cent) of women who said they did enrol in the scheme.
However, this does not translate to women having a greater confidence in their financial futures, with nearly 80 per cent (79 per cent) working part-time unsure about whether they will have enough in their pension pots to fund their retirement, compared to 65 per cent of men.
Maike Currie, investment director at Fidelity International, commented:
Auto-enrolment has helped millions of workers save towards their futures, but there is still a significant number of people who are falling between the cracks. Not enough part-time employees are engaged with, or even have, a workplace pension.
More women than men work part-time, and while our research shows that women in part-time employment are more likely to have a workplace pension compared to men, they are still a fifth more likely to doubt whether they will have enough saved for retirement.
Megan McElroy is a second year English Literature student at the University of Warwick. As Editorial Intern for HRreview, her interests include employment law and public policy. In relation to her degree, her favourite areas of study include Small Press Publishing and political poetry.
