More than a third of people have never heard of the auto-enrolment, despite these workplace pensions being in place for 10 years.
This research by the TISA found “worrying” low levels of financial literacy among the adult population, with almost half of respondents (47 per cent) stating they had not heard of AE, or had heard of it but could not explain what it was.
TISA pointed out tha has the potential to damage the UK economy and society in the long term. If people are not aware of their pension options, they will be unable to plan and ensure they have the money to live on upon retirement.
The survey also found that two thirds (67.9 per cent) of respondents did not think school prepared them for financial life as an adult. TISA said the findings showed many people had a “base layer” of understanding about common financial products — such as credit cards and mortgages — but there was little depth of understanding as to how they worked.
TISA said that the results of this survey, conducted among 2,000 representative adults, were slightly more encouraging for younger participants, suggesting there has been a shift in teaching approaches.
It said there was a clear sign that education around the use of online banking products has had an effect, with 85.4 per cent of these younger respondents more confident about navigating their bank and building society website or app.
TISA CEO Carol Knight says: “This data paints a poor picture of the educational system within the UK and how we support people in their financial planning.
“To change, it will require intervention from Government to alter education policy. However, employers must take on a share of the burden by assisting their staff through training programmes to build up the financial education of their employees. This is especially relevant to the gaps in knowledge on pensions within the workplace.”
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