Office for National Statistics

Nearly eight in ten employees have a workplace pension today compared to less than half of people when auto-enrolment (AE) was introduced in 2012, according to a report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The UK economy returned to growth in February, expanding by an estimated 0.4% even as nationwide lockdowns remained in place, although GDP output remained 7.8% below a year earlier, according to the latest figures.

Professional Pensions rounds up some of the latest research from across the industry for International Women’s Day 2021.

Excess deaths across the UK are continuing to rise as the coronavirus pandemic persists, analysis from the Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI) shows.

Defined contribution (DC) contributions were scaled back by 11% in the second quarter of 2020 as the impact of the pandemic set in, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Another week-on-week increase in the number of deaths with Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate has brought total excess deaths since the beginning of the second wave to 5,000.

Trustees must know the signs of sponsor distress and be prepared to act quickly as the “first line of defence” for savers, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has warned.

All-cause mortality remains higher than levels observed last year with the number of weekly deaths related to Covid-19 surpassing 1,000.

Overall mortality remains in line with pre-coronavirus trends despite a recent increase in Covid-19 related deaths, according to the Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI).

Despite year-to-date mortality rates sitting at their highest in 12 years, the level of deaths in the third quarter remained broadly the same as in 2019.