UK Pensions Crisis: Over Third of Britons 'Will Never Save for Retirement'

Despite the UK's looming pensions crisis, over a third of Britons says they will never save or invest for their retirement.

According to a survey by information firm Nielsen, 37% of UK consumers have no plans to put away money for their retirement. This compares with 22% of people globally.

"Britons appear much less involved in saving and investment activities than other consumers around the world," said Eleni Nicholas, Nielsen's senior vice president for financial services in Europe.

"Our analysis shows the British are engaging in activity to meet, on average, just two-and-a-half financial goals, compared to four goals globally.

"Although retirement is high up on Britons' lists, it's still much less of a thought than it is around the world."

An ageing society and growing population is putting strain on the UK's state pension system.

The state pension age is being pushed back later and later, while the value of the payments is set to steadily decline as they become increasingly unaffordable for the public purse.

This means a greater burden will be put on the individual to save for when they retire, rather than the state to provide a sufficient pension income.

A report by thinktank Policy Exchange said 11 million people in the UK are at risk of entering "pension poverty" when they retire because they are not saving enough.

In order to meet the government's recommended retirement income of £16,200, Policy Exchange argued that someone earning the average salary of £27,000 needs to save 6.5 times more than they currently do.

"People are not saving enough for their retirement," said James Barty, author of the report.

"This is putting an intolerable burden on the state which needs to be addressed sooner rather than later."

The government has created the auto-enrolment scheme, which forces employers to put workers aged over 22 and earning more than £9,440 a year on a workplace pension scheme. Both the worker and employer make contributions.

Chancellor George Osborne has brought forward plans to raise the state pension age. It will now rise to 68 in the mid-2030s rather than 2046 as previously planned.

According to government projections, public spending on the basic state pension will soar from £66bn in 2015/16 to $276bn in 2060/61.