Pensions for workers as young as 16

TEENAGERS as young as 16 are to be given workplace pensions for the first time under plans expected to be published later this year.

At present workers aged over 22 are automatically enrolled in schemes by their employer providing they earn at least £10,000 a year. The move was introduced in 2012 in a desperate bid to encourage more Britons to save for their retirement.

The Government is now set to remove the lower age limit, according to industry sources. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is expected to announce the plan in a review that will be published before the end of the year.

Steve Webb, former pensions minister and policy director at Royal London, said: ‘We’re always telling people that the sooner they start saving for retirement the better, so we shouldn’t have a law where workers under 22 are excluded. Reducing or removing the age limit will send out the right message.’

Darren Philp, of The People’s Pension, said: ‘The earlier people start saving, the more investment growth can do the hard work for them in saving for their retirement. But it isn’t just younger workers that are missing out. While auto-enrolment has been a real game-changer for two-thirds of the UK workforce, millions of people haven’t been enrolled, not just because they are too young, but because they are too old, they don’t earn enough, or they’re self-employed.’

The DWP did not deny the claim. A spokesman said: ‘We won’t comment on something that had not yet been published, the review is ongoing.’ Workers can choose to opt out of auto-enrolment, but fewer than one in ten have asked to be removed.

The number of savers has jumped from 7.8million in 2012 to 13.5 million last year.