Govt urged to act on pension saving as self-employed at record high

Highest employment since 1974

Hannah Godfrey
clock • 1 min read

The government has been urged to focus on making pension savings more attractive to those working for themselves as new ONS figures have revealed the number of self-employed workers has reached a record high.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), published today, showed the number of self-employed workers has reached a record high of 4.93 million - up 90,000 between January and March 2019.  Aegon pensions director Steven Cameron (pictured) urged the government to pay attention to the increasing numbers of workers becoming self-employed, pointing out those working for themselves do not benefit from automatic-enrolment, and risk lagging behind when it comes to their retirement savings. "The government needs to focus urgently on this large proportion of the UK workforce to make ...

To continue reading this article...

Join Professional Adviser for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, industry insights and market intelligence
  • Stay ahead of the curve with spotlights on emerging trends and technologies
  • Receive breaking news stories straight to your inbox in the daily newsletters
  • Make smart business decisions with the latest developments in regulation, investing retirement and protection
  • Members-only access to the editor’s weekly Friday commentary
  • Be the first to hear about our events and awards programmes

Join

 

Already a Professional Adviser member?

Login

More on Retirement

The advice dividend in an age of retirement uncertainty

The advice dividend in an age of retirement uncertainty

The UK pensions landscape has become progressively more complicated in recent decades

Andrew Tully
clock 17 February 2026 • 4 min read
Royal London introduces CRP framework to help advisers

Royal London introduces CRP framework to help advisers

Support when developing retirement income strategies for clients

Jenna Brown
clock 29 January 2026 • 1 min read
Just Group sees fall in retirement income sales as takeover approaches

Just Group sees fall in retirement income sales as takeover approaches

Brookfield Wealth Solutions to takeover during first half of the year

Isabel Baxter
clock 20 January 2026 • 2 min read