Research and analysis

Employers' Pension Provision Survey 2011(RR802)

Results of the most recent in a long-running series of DWP-commissioned surveys of private sector pension provision in Great Britain.

Documents

Employers' Pension Provision Survey 2011(RR802): report

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Employers' Pension Provision Survey 2011(RR802): summary

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Details

This report presents the results of the most recent in a long-running series of DWP-commissioned surveys of private sector pension provision in Great Britain. It is the only major survey of such provision of its kind. The first survey was carried out in 1994 and it has been conducted roughly every two years since.

The 2011 survey was commissioned to allow us to identify changes in the pattern of provision since the previous one (in 2009, see link below), longer-term trends in provision (see link to the 2007 report below), and, through the inclusion of a substantial new module, to measure employers’ plans around key elements of the ongoing workplace pension reforms (previously carried out as a separate survey in 2009, see link below). These reforms are designed to increase private pension saving in the UK.

The Employers’ Pension Provision 2011 survey was carried out between June and September 2011 and comprised more than 3,000 interviews with employers, with the sample structured to provide as representative and complete a picture of employer pension provision, across as many employees, as possible. Thus, all employers with more than 1,000 employees were included in the sample at the outset.

The survey is a critical data source for tracking private pension provision and monitoring contribution rates, and will be used extensively in the evaluation of the workplace pension reforms. Findings are also relevant in the context of other pension reforms such as State pension reform.

The survey presents hard data on current pension provision but also looks at employer intentions with regard to future provision in response to the reforms.

Published 1 July 2012