Latest Publications

The pensions landscape is complex and unsustainable in its current form. This report proposes a vision for a simpler, fairer and more sustainable pensions landscape, incorporating the three pillars of State Pension, workplace provision and personal provision into a holistic framework.

This paper builds on the SMF paper published in December 2023, which argued for ‘member choice’ in pensions. With such a proposal under consideration by the Government, it addresses some common questions and misapprehensions.

In the Autumn Statement 2023, the Chancellor announced a call for evidence on a lifetime provider model for pensions. This briefing, with a foreword from pensions minister Paul Maynard, details a “member choice” proposal, which would simplify the pensions market by allowing individuals to move towards having one pension pot for life, thereby helping to tackle the long-standing problem of “small pot” pensions.

The ethnic minority gap in financial products such as pensions and insurance is well-documented, but poorly understood. Drawing on existing and new survey data, and in-depth interviews, this report seeks to understand the scale of this gap, and possible explanations behind it, as well as proposing recommendations to policymakers and the industry on how to reduce the risk of disadvantage faced by ethnic minorities.

In this briefing, Gareth Davies MP makes the case for young workers to be automatically enroled into a workplace pension scheme. He argues that, instead of waiting until the age of 22, extending automatic enrolment 18-21-year-olds will better equip them meet the challenges of their generation.

This essay series, collected in partnership with the Chartered Banker Institute, re-evaluates the concept of the stakeholder economy in light of the economic and social shockwaves delivered by the Coronavirus pandemic.

This research uses modelling to assess the implications for UK retirees were they to follow similar paths to those exhibited by individuals in Australia and the United States of America, countries where they have similar pension freedoms.

The purpose of this joint paper the Social Market Foundation and Big Society Capital is to explore why and how social pension funds should be introduced in the UK.

With the Government and all parties announcing fresh reforms over the last six months, pensions policy is set to be one of the dominant themes in the lead up to the next general election. Drawing on past and current SMF research, this briefing paper highlights the most important points for discussion.