Six out of 10 (62%) in the West Midlands and Wales said they are not confident they will have enough money, which was the weakest result of all the regions surveys, and compares to an average of 55% across Britain (Northern Ireland was not polled).
The figure, from a YouGov survey for the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), also shows that only 44% in the West Midlands who have not retired are planning on funding their retirement with a workplace or private pension.
That was the joint lowest result in Britain, alongside the North East, and compares with 49% across Britain. And 12% of respondents in the West Midlands said they do not trust financial products. For Britain, this figure was 8%, and the West Midlands result was higher than anywhere else. Former head of the Treasury Select Committee Lord McFall (pictured) is to meet pension fund groups in Birmingham today, to see how to encourage saving for retirement, particularly through workplace pensions.
McFall said: "Half the workforce is staring down the barrel of a retirement spent in poverty and that's totally unacceptable. We need to find a better way of getting everyone to save for their older age. "This is a UK-wide issue, which we have to tackle before it is too late, but there are some stark indications that the problem is worse in the West Midlands. More people here are worried that they won't have enough money in their retirement and fewer people are saving into a workplace pension. "I will be asking local pensions experts to discuss what we can all do to improve the outlook for retirement saving in the region. Their views and ideas will help build my final report, which I'll put to the Government."
Today's visit is the first regional meeting of a series to be held across the UK over the coming months as Lord McFall gathers evidence for the new Workplace Retirement Income Commission (WRIC), which he is chairing. Lord McFall will be joined in Birmingham by fellow WRIC commissioner Imelda Walsh, former HR director of Sainsbury's.
The private meetings will be attended by several pension schemes from businesses in the West Midlands, covering the manufacturing, automotive and service sectors. The commission is fully independent and will seek out a wide range of views and research before making its findings public in October 2011.
Its final thoughts will be put to policymakers to help the Government meet its coalition agreement commitment to 'reinvigorate occupational pensions'. WRIC will not be looking at public sector pensions.
WRIC will focus on pensions and other workplace savings vehicles. It will ask what barriers to workplace retirement saving exist for both employers and staff and plans to explore ways of overcoming these.
The survey polled 4,177 adults online in England, Scotland and Wales in January 2011.
