Pensions map highlights hardship

MORE than half of Britain‘s working population will face hardship in retirement, with Greater London seeing the biggest increases in the number of people facing an impoverished future.

Research shows 16.1m (54%) of the working population will struggle on a pension income of less than 40% of their final salary and could be forced into relying on State benefits.

JPMorgan Fleming, the fund manager that carried out the research, said this represents a staggering increase of 3.45m people facing a difficult retirement, compared with the results of last year‘s annual pension map survey.

Spokesman Simon Crinage said: 'This year marks the first time since we began the pension map in 1996 that the number of working people facing hardship in retirement outnumbers those who face an OK retirement where they can live on up to 50% of their usual income, or comfortable where individuals have income over 50% of their final salary. This shift is is extremely concerning.'

While in Greater London 50% will find their retirement far from golden, there is good news for other regions. Around 38% of pensioners in Northern Ireland and the East Midlands can look forward to comfortable retirement, with incomes over 50% of their final salaries. The area faring worst in the UK‘s pension map is the South West, with 72% of the region's working population facing hardship in retirement

Nigel Stammers, pensions strategy manager at Clerical Medical, said: 'The cost of living in the East Midlands and Northern Ireland is likely to be less than in the areas where pensions don‘t look so healthy. Also, where the cost of housing is lower, long-term savings get more of a look-in and people realise to enjoy a comfortable retirement, you need to have saved for it.'