IPSE, DWP and pensions industry begin trials to tackle self-employed pensions crisis
IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) is delighted to announce that it is trialling new savings initiatives designed to help the self-employed save for later life in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), NEST Insight, Aegon and Smart Pension.
Alongside the Government and pensions industry, IPSE is developing a programme of behavioural trials which will test different messaging, presentation treatments and tools to encourage increased saving among the self-employed.
Earlier this year IPSE released a landmark report, ‘How to solve the self-employed pensions crisis’, which found that Automatic Enrolment will not defuse the ticking timebomb that is the self-employed pensions crisis.
Instead, the report found that tailored products such as the sidecar pensions scheme, greater engagement with young people, improved and tailored guidance on Government websites and policy documents that are accessible and jargon-free are the key solutions. These recommendations will form the basis of the forthcoming trials.
For more information about how the trials will work, click here.
Jonathan Lima-Matthews, IPSE’s Senior Policy Adviser, commented: “With IPSE research showing just 31 per cent of the self-employed are saving into a pension, there is an urgent need to avert what is a looming crisis. As concerning as the situation is though, it also presents a fantastic opportunity to enact positive change on behalf of millions of self-employed people across the UK.
“And that’s why we are delighted to be working with the Department for Work and Pensions, our research partner NEST Insight, and savings partners Aegon and Smart Pension, to test tailored and progressive savings provisions which will give long-term peace of mind to the burgeoning self-employed workforce.
“In partnering with both Government and industry, IPSE is inspiring innovation, and making good on our commitment to help overcome the self-employed pensions crisis. We strongly encourage others within the pensions industry to follow suit and help three million self-employed people save for a secure future.”
