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29 An increase in the proportion of working-age people contributing to a non-state pension (Great Britain).
Baseline and trends: Baseline year – 1996/97. Between 1996/97 and 1998/99 the proportion contributing to a non-state pension remained broadly constant. Improvements in the collection of survey information covering pensions meant that data for the years 1999/2000 to 2005/06 are not fully comparable with earlier data. These changes do not affect an assessment of overall trend against the baseline. Between 1999/2000 and 2005/06, the proportion contributing showed a slight decline. More men are contributing than women (45 per cent of men, compared with 39 per cent of women in 2005/06).
Percentage of working-age people contributing to non-state pensions (Great Britain)
Note: Data from 1999/2000 onwards are not comparable with earlier data. Some figures have seen slight revisions since the last Opportunity for all report.
Definition: Includes people in an employees’ occupational scheme and/or personal pension scheme. Methodological work conducted by the Office for National Statistics and the National Centre for Social Research in 1996/97 resulted in a number of recommendations for improving pension questions across government surveys. These proposals were implemented on the Family Resources Survey in 1999/2000 and have led to a discontinuity in the series for pension contributions.
Data source: Family Resources Survey.
Further information
Further information about the Family Resources Survey can be found at: www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/frs/index/publications.asp
Further information regarding the proportion of working-age people contributing to a non-state pension can be found in table 7.12 at: www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/frs/2005_06/chapter7.pdf 
Research Evidence
Attitudes to pensions: The 2006 survey: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2007-2008/rrep434.pdf