Single Parents Day takes place on Tuesday, March 21 and new research has revealed one in three working single mothers are not eligible for a workplace pension under current auto-enrolment rules despite over half (59%) being employed. Consequently, working single mothers have missed out on over £852 million in pension savings since the introduction of auto-enrolment in 2012.
Since it was introduced, auto-enrolment has transformed how millions of people in the UK save for their pension. Yet for far too many in our society, a comfortable retirement remains out of reach, usually through no fault of their own.
The research, conducted by NOW: Pensions, the pension provider for almost two million people and the PPI (Pensions Policy Institute) shows that there are currently over 1.59 million single mothers in the UK, but only a fraction are saving into a workplace pension. Of those single mothers who are eligible for workplace pensions, they will be saving an average of £885 per year into their pension, compared to the UK average of £1,573.
