UK - Three-quarters of staff think having a workplace pension is important and two-thirds of employees would take a lower paid job to get one, suggests research.

According to a study commissioned by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), 53% of people said it was "very important" they have a job which comes with a pension while 22% said it was quite important.

Perhaps more importantly, two-thirds (66%) of the 1012 people, aged to 18 to 85, questioned said they would take the lower paid job with a pension over a higher paid role with no pension, if it meant they received a pension worth around £20,000 (€29,500) a year.

That said, 32% argued they would prefer a higher income now and would "sort out a pension later", according to the survey conducted by research consultancy Populus.

This evidence was presented on Friday at the same time as the NAPF revealed - at the second day of its annual conference in Manchester - employers are still committed to providing their employees with a good pension, despite the financial pressures they have faced over the last decade. 

In a report entitled All Change, the NAPF reveals employers want to continue to provide a good pension for all workers, including new recruits, even in the wake of rising longevity, falling inflation and increased regulation.

Details of the document confirm employers have sought to limit their risk and stabilize costs but aargues employers have demonstrated a willingness to go on providing a good pension for their workforce, including new recruits, despite the raft of defined benefit scheme closures to new members in recent years.

The NAPF suggests the regulatory environment has "very often pushed employers into
providing two different schemes - each with different costs and risks - for
their new staff as  compared to their existing employees".

Some of the schemes falling under the spotlight of the 10-year review, and how they have changed in that time, include BAE Systems, Marks and Spencer, The Church of England, British Airways, Co-operative Group, Barclays and Renishaw.
 
Nigel Peaple, NAPF director of policy, said there have been constants in that 10 years, despite the picture of change.

"Employers have remained committed to good pension provision, but the design of regulation has forced them to adopt solutions that have shortcomings, such as offering different pensions for existing and new employees and passing more risk on to employers than would otherwise have been the case. A more logical regime would have allowed them to amend their existing provision in the round," said Peaple.

Topics