In response to the announcement that the government are launching a new Pensions Commission to examine the reasons why so many people are facing the prospect of poverty in retirement and to make recommendations for change, Marloes Nicholls, Head of Advocacy at the Finance Innovation Lab, said:
“The government is right to recognise the deep flaws and stark inequalities in the UK’s pension system. Nearly two-thirds of pension wealth is held by the richest 10%, while millions – particularly women, disabled people, people of colour and those on low incomes – face the prospect of hardship in retirement. If the new Pensions Commission is to deliver meaningful change, it must start by listening to the voices and prioritising the needs of these groups.
Security and prosperity in retirement depends on having enough money to live on, but also a planet we can live on. The Commission should be tasked with addressing the role pensions play in accelerating the climate and nature crises. None of us will have a secure retirement if we keep pumping billions of pounds of our pension money into fossil fuels and deforestation, and undermining the very future that we’re trying to save for.”