A New Pension Settlement for the Twenty-First Century? The UK Pensions Commission's Analysis and Proposals

This article summarizes the analysis and recommendations of the UK Pensions Commission, which reported in November 2005. The UK faces similar demographic challenges to other nations from increasing longevity and past fertility declines. However, in the face of them, both state and private pension provision are in decline for younger cohorts. The Commission proposes reforms to the state pension system which would make it more generous, less means-tested, and more universal than it would otherwise become. This would require both higher public spending on pensions as a share of GDP than now, and a gradual increase in state pension age after 2020. It also proposes establishment of a new National Pension Savings Scheme, into which workers would be automatically enrolled (with the right to opt out) if they were outside good employer provision, together with measures to facilitate later and more flexible retirement. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.