According to a new report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies has found that fewer people are heading towards poverty in their old age than previously thought.
Researchers from the institute are predicting the majority of the next generation of pensioners will have enough to reach the adequacy benchmark. They found that only 9.8% of people aged over 50, but below the state retirement age would be at risk of having inadequate incomes in their retirement. This compares with the Pension Commission's own analysis which predicted that 38-43% were heading towards poverty. The difference between the figures is put down to the fact that the institutes' study included all forms of wealth, including housing, while the Commissions' did not.
Our view
This is perhaps due to the property boom of recent years. Make no mistake, if property slows and more have to rely on retirement pensions, the figures will get worse as people do not save enough.