According to a recent study by the TUC, six in 10 workers in agriculture have not been automatically enrolled in a pension because they earned less than the £10,000 threshold last year.
Under auto-enrolment rules, any workers earning at least £10,000 a year must be automatically enrolled into a pension scheme by their employer but many workers in agriculture earn less. This means they will miss out on a decent retirement.
The TUC also found evidence of a “pension lottery”, which both the National Farmers Union (NFU) and the trade union body say must be addressed by the Government. As a spokeswoman for the TUC pointed out, auto-enrolment has been a great success but it is hardly a case of ‘job done’.
She added that millions remain at risk of poverty in retirement because of their lack of savings and said that the Government must help more low-paid workers to join schemes.
Meanwhile, NFU Mutual underlined the “alarming gap” in retirement savings for the self-employed, which includes many farmers. A spokesman for the organisation said it is “frightening” to see that 35 per cent of self-employed people who are approaching retirement age have no pension and that many in this group will include a great number in farming and agricultural work.
He added that anyone in their 40s and 50s without retirement savings must take immediate action, as relying on the State Pension to keep them in their later years is “wishful thinking”.
