There are many estimates of what proportion of the population save towards their retirement, but data from pension provider Standard Life points to overall pension ownership of 49%, with 59% of men having pension provision and 41% of women.

Practically everyone on the state payroll enjoys the benefit of pension provision. When they are stripped out, private sector pension coverage reduces to c.50% for men and c.30% for women.

The main reason given for not owning a pension is people saying they can’t afford it. 

“We don’t believe that’s the real reason for some,” says  Sinead McEvoy at Standard Life. “We think a combination of people wanting to start paying into a pension but not getting around to it, not understanding pensions, not knowing how to start one, and being uncomfortable making retirement related decisions are all blockers.” 

For private sector defined contribution pensions, the average pension pot is €120,000, which yields an income less than €5,000 per year. Combined with the contributory state pension, that means an average annual retirement income of c.€18,000. 

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“There is a big disconnect between what people want from their retirement and the actions they are taking to make it happen,” Smyth adds. ”Our research regularly shows people want to retire on about €35,000 p.a. but at best are saving about half that amount.”

Pension provision is a particular issue for women. ESRI research among pensioners last year found that 88% of men and 93% of women were in receipt of the State Pension, while 55% of men and 28% of women were in receipt of occupational and private pensions.

This gender pension gap will ameliorate over time, and reflects the fact that large cohorts of women in their 70s and 80s now had minimal workforce participation. ESRI noted that for occupational pensions higher levels of female educational attainment reduced the gap throughout the pension income distribution.

However, ESRI also cautioned that the review of the international evidence on gender differences in key dimensions of financial decision-making demonstrates that women are more risk-averse and have poorer financial literacy than men.