Where pensioners get their income
Today sees the release of three chapters of the ONS Pensions Trends series. I can’t claim to have developed any great new insights from the figures in these as there often is not much change from year to year. But I was struck by a time series looking at where pensioners get their income.
This graph shows for the average pensioner household how much comes from state and private sources. It is noticeable how much more private pensions contribute today compared to when the series starts.
Gross income by source (BHC) for retired households
United Kingdom, average per household, £ per year, 2010/11 prices
Bryn Davies
Oct 25th 2012, 9:17 am
It’s worth pointing out that a large part of the growth in private provision is due to the contracting-out provisions of SERPS. In other words, most of the increase in pensioners’ real incomes shown in the graph is a direct result of the 1974 Labour Government’s legislation the required all employees to have a earnings related pension.