The Future of the State Pension

A new study into public attitudes towards the state pension has found understanding of the state pension is poor, with participants often struggling to explain even basic aspects of how the system works. Participants tended to overestimate their knowledge about the state pension and were subsequently embarrassed and concerned when revealed to be wrong on key details. But when more information was given, there were concerns about the equity of the system, as well as strong support for reforms to ensure the long-term sustainability of the state pension and to help the most vulnerable approaching retirement. Carried out by the Policy Institute at King’s College London in partnership with Phoenix Insights, Phoenix Group’s longevity think tank, the research included two deliberative workshops, each bringing together 50 members of the public in London and Birmingham. Expert presentations and stimulus such as case studies and potential policy reforms were used to aid participants’ understanding of the context and support discussions during the workshops. These were followed by in-depth interviews with participants and a stakeholder roundtable event. A survey carried out before each of the workshops revealed around half of the participants claimed to have a reasonable, basic knowledge of the state pension – but in reality, “their working knowledge…was actually very limited,” the researchers said. The study identified five main knowledge gaps covering most of the core elements of how the state pension system works: the number of years of National Insurance contributions needed to qualify for the full state pension, eligibility criteria, the value of payments, what the “triple lock” is, and how the state pension differs from workplace savings.