Occupational Pensions

• In 2008 there were 3.6m members of occupational pension schemes in the private sector and 5.4m in the public sector.
• 87% of final salary schemes have closed to new entrants including high street names such as Boots, Barclays, Morrisons, Royal Bank of Scotland, the Post Office, IBM and Rentokil. 18% are also closed to existing staff – and this is likely to rise to 39% in the coming year.
• The average size of a pension fund used to buy an annuity in 2008 was £25,400.
• The average amount received from an occupational pension in 2006/7 was £68 for a single pensioner and £153 for a pensioner couple.