More than six in 10 employees would stay in a savings scheme if their employer automatically put them in one, according to new data.
The research, which was undertaken by workplace pension and savings provider Cushon, found that this number increased to 69% if the employer contributed too. While 22% are not sure what they would do, only around one in 10 would definitely leave the scheme.
More than half (52%) of respondents would be more likely to save if their employer set a provision up for them or if it came out of their salary directly, as 55% said the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic has made them more aware of the importance of saving for the future. Meanwhile, 11% feel like they can’t afford to put money aside at present and one in five (19%) people in the UK do not have any savings or investments at all.
Additionally, 18 to 24-year-old workers are now twice as likely to think about their future finances (58%) as opposed to just focusing on today (31%). Indeed, 44% of this age group saved more than ever since March 2020, putting away almost £3,000 on average.
Ben Pollard, CEO and founder at Cushon, commented that it is “great” to see that attitudes towards saving are slowly changing for the good, and that similar to pensions prior to auto-enrolment, inertia appears to play a big part.
He explained that he believes the UK government should look to allow employers to automatically enrol employees into workplace saving schemes albeit with safeguards in place, such as education around saving versus debt repayment.
“We know from our research that the appetite is there among employees and even without an employer contribution, the majority would remain in a scheme. In the meantime, employers should think about setting up a workplace savings scheme as part of their benefits offering and even consider contributing,” Pollard said.