A report from the Resolution Foundation has found that fewer self-employed people are saving for a pension.
The numbers show that the number of self-employed people contributing to a pension fell from 1.1 million in 2001-02 to 0.5 million in 2012-13. And because there has been a considerable increase in self-employed workers in recent years (up 900k in the same period) the proportion of those not contributing has grown dramatically.
Author of the study Conor D’Arcy said: “As self-employment becomes a longer-term career choice for millions of people, it’s important to better understand not just current earnings, but incomes in later life too. Changing the way employees prepare for their retirement has been a huge public policy success. But there is risk that Britain’s 4.5 million self-employed have fallen through the cracks. Ensuring that they save enough for their retirement should be a top priority for the new government.”
