Social contributions to funded pension schemes by the household sector
• The UK National Accounts show contributions to occupational pensions and employer-sponsored (not individual) personal pensions as 'social contributions' of the household sector. Employers' social contributions to funded pension schemes more than doubled between 2001 and 2006, to £47.5 billion, before falling to £46.0 billion in 2007. Employee social contributions to funded pension schemes reached £41.4 billion in 2007.
• The saving ratio fell to 2.5 per cent in 2007, its lowest level since the late 1950s.
• In 2007, household assets held in life assurance and pension funds were still below the 1999 peak as a proportion of GDP, but in cash terms they were higher, at £2,187 billion. Net equity in life assurance and pension funds made up over half of households' total financial assets in 2007.
• In 2007, insurance companies and pension funds held 72 per cent of UK government bonds, 55 per cent of UK mutual fund shares, 45 per cent of UK quoted shares and 40 per cent of UK corporate bonds.
• State pensions are paid by the Government from the National Insurance Fund. Total pension payments in 2007 were £57 billion, up from £34 billion in 1997. Total contributions in 2007 were £94 billion, almost double the 1997 figure of £51 billion.
• The estimate of the total liability to the Government of unfunded public service pension schemes was £650 billion on 31 March 2006, the latest date for which a figure is available.
• Government tax relief on pension contributions increased from £10.7 billion in 1998/99 to £23.1 billion in 2007/08, and tax liable on pension payments rose from £6.1 billion to £10.4 billion.
printer-friendly
Pension Trends Home