During 2005 12 million workers failed to make any pension savings, following a nine year trend of falling pension provision, the Independent has reported.
Citing new figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the report says that the annual survey of hours and earnings reveals that the number of people failing to make any pension provision has increased by over 13% since 1997.
The newspaper claims that this figure has increased every year, except one, since 1997, while during the same period the number of people in employment has risen by 8%. Those most likely not to make provisions are said to be those who most need to do so, and the problem looks set to worsen.
Surprisingly the figures show the group with highest increase of non-savers were workers aged 55 to 64, who saw a 45% increase between 1997 and 2005.
During 2005 the number of people who failed to make any pension provision increased by almost 250,000, following a 600,000 increase in the previous year.