In 2001:

• two thirds of full-time employees (67% of men and 65% of women) were currently members of either an occupational or personal pension scheme, as were 39% of women working part time;
• overall 54% of men and 58% of women working full time belonged to their employer's pension scheme, representing the majority of employees with current pension arrangements;
• men were more likely than women to belong to a personal pension scheme (22% of men working full time compared with 13% of women).

It should be noted that the GHS questions asked only about the respondent’s current employer, so some people may have held entitlements in the occupational pension scheme of a previous employer.

There was a strong association between pension arrangements and the age of the respondent, with low levels of membership among employees under the age of 25.

• Among full-time male employees, 63% of those aged 35 to 44 belonged to their current employer's scheme and 29% had a current personal pension compared with 25% and 4% respectively of men aged 18 to 24.
• Interestingly, however, among 18 to 24 year olds working full-time, women were more likely than men to have some pension provision; 38% compared with 27%. For both men and women, most of this provision came from occupational pensions.

In 2001:

• about one in ten employees who had a personal pension arrangement had a stakeholder pension - 8% of men and 11% of women who worked full time (table not shown).