- Minimum contributions to workplace pensions are rising to 8% of earnings.
- Saving less than £1 a day extra will cover the increase for an average earner.
- Fewer than one in ten people say they will opt out.
- More than a quarter of people say they don’t know about the increase.
There is a big change happening this spring which will affect millions of people’s pay packets. However, new research from Aviva1 has found more than a quarter (27%) of employees aged 22+ in the UK still don’t know about it.
From 6 April, the minimum contribution for anyone auto-enrolled into their workplace pension is going up from 5% to 8% of their pensionable salary.
But employees won’t have to pay all of that. Typically, they will put in 4%, with 3% coming from their employer and 1% from the government in tax relief.
Even though the changes come into effect from their April pay day, Aviva’s research has found it could come as a surprise to millions of employees.
the number of workers
auto-enrolled since 2012
the earnings threshold for
auto-enrolment
The recent survey of workers aged 22+ found more than a quarter (27%) didn’t know about the increase. A similar proportion (29%) said they’d heard something about it but didn’t know the details. Less than half (44%) said they were aware.
Aviva’s research also found that fewer than one in ten people (9%) said they would opt out of their workplace pension scheme when contributions increase.
Alistair McQueen, Head of Savings and Retirement at Aviva, said:
“So far, employers and employees have taken auto-enrolment in their stride, but contributions have to rise to give more savers a chance of a decent retirement.
“Contributions started at 2% of earnings which was a good way of easing people into the idea of retirement saving, but that was never going to be enough to provide most people with a comfortable retirement.
Auto-enrolment was first introduced by the government in 2012. Now all businesses with at least one employee must offer a workplace pension scheme. Anyone aged over 22 who earns more than £10,000 a year must be auto-enrolled, although workers can opt-out.
Since 2012, more than 10 million people have been auto-enrolled and opt-out rates have remained low.
The increase to 8% is another step in the right direction. And it’s a smart time to introduce the rise as it will coincide with increases in minimum wage, bigger income tax allowances and a common time for pay rises.
For an eligible employee earning the average salary of £27,500, the increase will be less than £1 a day but they’ll see an extra £50 go into their pension pot each month as their employer and the government will also be paying in more.
The fact that our survey shows only a small proportion of people say they will definitely opt out is great news. It’s a testament to the efforts everyone has made over the past six years that saving in a workplace pension has become the norm.
The aim of auto-enrolment is to encourage people to save into a pension to help give themselves a better standard of living when they retire. But to make this a reality, Aviva is calling for minimum contributions to be gradually increased to 12.5% by 2028.
Aviva also wants to see self-employed people included in some form of auto-enrolment to support those working in the gig economy.
-ENDS-
1 1,212 employed people aged 22+ were surveyed by Censuswide on behalf of Aviva in March 2019
Media enquiries
Ben Moss
Corporate and Workplace
-
Phone
-
07827 832 395
-
-
Email
Notes to editors:
- We are the UK's leading diversified insurer and we operate in the UK, Ireland and Canada. We also have international investments in India and China.
- We help our 25.2m customers make the most out of life, plan for the future, and have the confidence that if things go wrong we’ll be there to put it right.
- We have been taking care of people for more than 325 years, in line with our purpose of being ‘with you today, for a better tomorrow’. In 2024, we paid £29.3 billion in claims and benefits to our customers.
- Aviva is a Living Wage, Living Pension and Living Hours employer and provides market-leading benefits for our people, including flexible working, paid carers leave and equal parental leave. Find out more at www.aviva.com/about-us/our-people/
- As at 30 June 2025, total Group assets under management at Aviva Group were £419 billion and our estimated Solvency II shareholder capital surplus as at 30 September 2025 was £7.0 billion. Our shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and we are a member of the FTSE 100 index.
- For more details on what we do, our business and how we help our customers, visit www.aviva.com/about-us
- The Aviva newsroom at www.aviva.com/newsroom includes links to our spokespeople images, podcasts, research reports and our news release archive. Sign up to get the latest news from Aviva by email.
- You can follow us on:
- X: www.x.com/avivaplc
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/aviva-plc
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/avivaplc/
- For the latest corporate films from around our business, subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/aviva
