1 Key points
The proportion of employees in Northern Ireland who belonged to a workplace pension scheme in April 2019 was unchanged over the year at 74%. This is the first time in the last seven years that pension membership has not increased.
Nine out of ten public sector employees (91%) and two out of three (65%) private sector employees were members of a workplace pension scheme in 2019. This is an increase of 11 percentage points (pps) for public sector employees and 42pps for private sector employees since the introduction of automatic enrolment seven years ago.
Occupational Defined Benefit pension has been the most common form of workplace pension for the past ten years, ranging from 36% in 2009 to 26% in 2017, and was 30% in 2019. Occupational Defined Contribution has increased more than sixfold in the last ten years, from 4% to 25% making it the second most common pension in 2019.
Pension membership varies widely by industry with those employed in ‘public administration and defence’ most likely to have a pension (97%) and those in ‘Accommodation and food service activities’ least likely (44%).
2 Workplace pension scheme membership
Key findings
In 2019, 74% of all employees were members of a workplace pension scheme
Occupational Defined Benefit pensions were the most common schemes in the last ten years (30% in 2019)
An increase of 30pps in total pension membership since 2012, likely due to the introduction of automatic enrolment
The increases over recent years have been driven by Occupational Defined Contribution and Group Personal Pension schemes
Figure 1: Proportion of employees with workplace pensions by type of pension, 2008-2019
2. Data for Group Self-Invested Personal Pensions (GSIPP) are included within the Group Personal Pension (GPP) category.
Figure 1 tracks employee workplace pension scheme membership in Northern Ireland since 2009. It shows that:
The proportion of employees in Northern Ireland who belonged to any type of workplace pension scheme was relatively steady until 2012. Since then there has been a significant increase in total membership (30pps over the last seven years).
This was driven by substantial increases in the proportion of Occupational Defined Contribution and Group Personal Pension schemes.
- The introduction of automatic enrolment in 2012 is likely to have been a key factor in this increase, whilst the proportion recorded for 2019 remaining unchanged over the year is consistent with the completion of its roll-out.
3 Public and private sector
Key findings
Greater pension participation within the public sector - 9 out of 10 public sector employees had a workplace pension
Private sector pension membership has almost tripled in the last seven years, narrowing the gap with the public sector
Figure 2: Proportion of employees with workplace pensions by sector and type of pension, 2012 and 2019
2. Data for Group Self-Invested Personal Pensions (GSIPP) are included within the Group Personal Pension (GPP) category.
Figure 2 shows that in 2019:
91% of public sector employees had a workplace pension, with 78% having an Occupational Defined Benefit pension
65% of employees within the private sector had a workplace pension, with 37% having an Occupational Defined Contribution pension
Occupational Defined Contribution and Group Personal or Stakeholder pensions were more common in the private sector than in the public sector.
23% of private sector employees had a workplace pension prior to the introduction of automatic enrolment. This increased 42pps by 2019.
4 Age
Key findings
Workplace pension scheme membership increases with age up to 50 years
82% of 30-59 year olds had workplace pension membership in 2019
22-29 year olds experienced the largest increase over the last seven years
Figure 3: Proportion of employees with workplace pensions by age band, 2012 and 2019
Figure 3 shows that in 2019:
22-29 year olds have had the largest increase in workplace pension membership since the introduction of automatic enrolment in 2012, with an increase of 50 pps, to 75%
This is followed by 30-39 years old, who increased by 34pps, to 81% over the seven year period
Although pension membership for employees in their 40’s increased at a lesser rate (26pps), it still recorded the highest proportion of membership (83%)
Those aged 18-21 had the smallest proportion of membership (15%), however this is up 15-fold from 2012 (1%)
Almost two thirds (62%) of all employees aged 60 or over were enrolled in a workplace pension.
5 Gender
Key findings
The proportion of females with workplace pensions was slightly higher than males in 2019
The greatest proportion of males are in Occupational Defined Contribution schemes
The greatest proportion of females are in Occupational Defined Benefit schemes
Figure 4: Proportion of employees with workplace pensions by gender and type of pension, 2012 and 2019
2. Data for Group Self-Invested Personal Pensions (GSIPP) are included within the Group Personal Pension (GPP) category.
Figure 4 shows that:
Over the last seven years there was a similar increase in the percentage of both males (29pps) and females (31pps) who had a pension
73% of males and 74% of females now belong to workplace pension schemes
Since the introduction of automatic enrolment, Occupational Defined Benefit has remained the most popular pension type for females, whereas Occupational Defined Contribution has become the most popular pension type for males. This is likely to reflect the differing industries and occupations in which males and females work.
6 Work pattern
Key findings
Workplace pension participation is higher among full-time than part-time employees
In 2019, 82% of all full-time employees were members of a workplace pension scheme
In comparison, 54% of all part-time employees were members of workplace pension schemes
Figure 5: Proportion of employees with workplace pensions by working pattern, 2012 and 2019
2. Data for Group Self-Invested Personal Pensions (GSIPP) are included within the Group Personal Pension (GPP) category.
Figure 5 shows that:
In 2019, 82% of full-time employees were members of a workplace pension scheme, an increase of 29pps over the last seven years
This is exactly the same as the growth of part-time employees with pensions, which has also increased by 29pps since 2012 to 54%
These changes have been driven by increasing membership of Occupational Defined Contribution and Group Personal Pension schemes
Together, these schemes have increased by 32pps for full-time employees and 20pps for part-time employees since 2012.
7 Occupation
Key findings
Employees in Professional occupations were the most likely to have a workplace pension
Those in Sales and customer services or Elementary occupations were least likely to have a workplace pension.
Process, plant and machine operatives have seen the largest increase in pensions participation since 2012
Figure 6: Proportion of employees with workplace pensions by occupation, 2012 and 2019
Figure 6 shows that:
At 88%, employees in Professional occupations remained the most likely to belong to a workplace pension scheme in 2019
Although the proportion of employees in Sales and customer services occupations belonging to a pension has increased almost sixfold since the introduction of automatic enrolment (from 9% in 2012 to 53% in 2019), it still remains the occupation with the joint lowest participation (equal to Elementary occupations)
Process, plant and machine operatives saw the largest increase (49pps) over the last seven years.
8 Industry
Key findings
97% of employees in Public administration and defence were members of a workplace pension scheme
Accommodation and food services had the lowest rate of participation
The largest increase since 2012 occurred in Administrative and support service activities
Figure 7: Proportion of employees with workplace pensions by industry, 2012 and 2019
Figure 7 shows that:
97% of employees in Public administration and defence had a workplace pension in 2019, a 3 percentage point increase since 2012
The Accommodation and food service activities industry had the lowest proportion of employees belonging to a workplace pension in 2019 (42%)
Administrative and support service activities recorded the largest increase (59pps) over the last seven years, closely followed by Agriculture, forestry and fishing (54pps)
9 Definitions
Automatic Enrolment
Contributions
Full-time employees
Group Personal Pension (GPP)
Group self-invested personal pension (GSIPP)
Group stakeholder pension
Inter-Departmental Business Register
Occupational Defined Benefit Scheme
Occupational Defined Contribution Scheme
Occupational Pension Scheme
Pension Scheme
Personal pension
Private sector schemes
Public sector schemes
Stakeholder pension
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)
Workplace pension
10 Further Information
Methodology
The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is a UK wide survey that provides a wide range of information on earnings, including workplace pension type by age, gender, occupation and industry. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) carries out ASHE in Great Britain, and it is carried out by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) in NI. This release contains summary statistics from the pension’s element of the 2019 Northern Ireland survey.
The survey information related to the pay-week (or other pay period if the employee was paid less frequently) which included 10th April 2019, the reference date for the latest survey.
In 2009, ASHE moved from using the SIC 2003 categorisation of business activities to the new SIC 2007 activity codes.
More information on the extent of the revisions and correspondence between SIC 2007 and the former SIC 2003
The Standard Occupational Classification 2000 (SOC 2000) used for ASHE has been replaced by the Standard Occupational Classification 2010 (SOC 2010) in 2013. Since the SOC forms part of the methodology by which ASHE data are weighted to produce estimates for NI, this has caused a discontinuity in the ASHE time series. Therefore, the revised estimates for 2011, and all subsequent provisional and revised estimates, are not directly comparable to earlier results.
Coverage and sampling
As in previous years, the sample used for the survey included approximately 1% of all employees in NI who were covered by PAYE schemes, and therefore is subject to an associated level of sampling error. Someone who is in more than one PAYE scheme may appear more than once.
The ASHE estimates are based on a sample and are therefore subject to an associated level of variability. The coefficient of variation (cv) indicates the quality of an estimate. The cv is the ratio of the standard error of an estimate to the estimate, expressed as a percentage. The smaller the CV, the higher the quality of the estimate.
ASHE coverage change in 2014
In 2013, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) changed the criteria which determine how businesses are obliged to report employees’ earnings via their Pay as You Earn (PAYE) schemes. The PAYE system is the frame for the ASHE sample. Until this change, businesses were only required to operate PAYE for employees whose earnings were above the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) for National Insurance contributions (currently £111 per week) and they did not report all new jobs until the end of the tax year. The new rules require employers to report the details of all of their employee jobs via their PAYE schemes, whatever their earnings, provided that they have at least one employee earning above the LEL. In addition, employers must report for all jobs in ‘real-time’, meaning that they cannot wait until the end of the tax year. This new system is known as ‘Real-Time Information’ (RTI).
In theory, ONS judges that the impact of the move to RTI on the estimates for ASHE in 2014 is negligible. It is possible that at some lower levels of disaggregation, there may by a more pronounced effect, perhaps because RTI has resulted in different behavioural changes for employers in particular regions or in particular sectors.
Response
A total of 7,095 returns were received by NISRA (91% of those sampled). ASHE responses are weighted to the number of jobs measured by the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and this weighting is carried out by ONS. The weighting factors include age, sex, occupation and workplace and take account of differing response rates.
Confidentiality
Information on earnings and hours is obtained in confidence from employers under the authority of The Statistics of Trade and Employment (NI) Order 1988. Information collected is treated as strictly confidential and is used only for statistical purposes. The resulting analyses do not show information about identifiable people or private businesses.
Contact Information
If you require further information about the figures contained in this publication or the accompanying tables, please contact the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings section using the details below:
Telephone: (028) 9052 9489
Email: ashehelpline@finance-ni.gov.uk
Web: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings
Twitter: ‘@NISRA’