Title Page
Copyright
Contents
The Authors 9
Abbreviations 10
Summary 11
1. Introduction 18
1.1. Background 18
1.2. Research objectives 19
1.3. Research methods 19
1.3.1. Groups included in the research 19
1.3.2. Quantitative research 21
1.3.3. Qualitative research 22
1.4. Analysis and interpretation 23
1.5. Report layout 24
2. Awareness of State Pension deferral 26
2.1. Knowledge of pensions issues 26
2.2. Awareness of State Pension age and entitlement 27
2.3. Awareness of State Pension deferral 28
2.4. Awareness of working and deferring 29
2.5. Levels of engagement with State Pension deferral 30
2.6. Awareness of lump sum and increment options 31
2.7. Information from Department for Work and Pensions and The Pension Service 35
2.7.1. Recall of DWP information 35
2.7.2. Sources of information about SP deferral 35
2.7.3. Qualitative findings on use of information and contact with DWP 37
3. Characterisics of deferrers and non-deferrers 40
3.1. Work status 40
3.2. Working details 42
3.2.1. Hours worked 42
3.2.2. Self-employment 43
3.2.3. Standard Occupational Classification 44
3.2.4. Working intentions 44
3.3. Demographic characteristics 45
3.3.1. Gender 45
3.3.2. Household composition 46
3.3.3. Disability and caring 46
3.4. Income and finance 47
3.4.1. Current income 47
3.4.2. Perception of current income 47
3.4.3. Benefits 48
3.4.4. Additional sources of income 49
4. Reasons for deferral and non-deferral 50
4.1. Plans for working and retirement 51
4.1.1. Approaches to working and retirement plans 51
4.1.2. Impact of working and retirement plans on decision to defer 53
4.2. Financial need 54
4.3. Other financial considerations 55
4.3.1. Using deferral as a savings mechanism 55
4.3.2. Tax considerations 55
4.3.3. Interest earned through deferral 56
4.4. Principle of entitlement 56
4.5. Life expectancy 56
4.6. Summary of reasons for deferral and non-deferral: quantitative findings 57
4.6.1. Reasons for deferral 57
4.6.2. Accidental deferral 59
4.6.3. Reasons for non-deferral 59
5. Claiming the lump sum or increment payment 60
5.1. Preference for lump sum or increment 60
5.2. Characteristics of lump sum and increment claimants 61
5.2.1. Work status 61
5.2.2. Working details 63
5.2.3. Demographic characteristics 64
5.2.4. Income and finance 64
5.3. Reasons for preference 65
5.3.1. Awareness of options 65
5.3.2. Financial advantages of each option 65
5.3.3. Timing of claim 67
5.3.4. Life expectancy 67
6. Length of deferral and timing of claim 68
6.1. Length of deferral 68
6.2. Reasons for claiming the lump sum or increment at a particular time 70
7. Future options 72
7.1. Deferring more than once 72
7.1.1. Level of support 72
7.1.2. Perceived strengths and weaknesses 73
7.2. Deferring part of the State Pension 73
7.2.1. Level of support 73
7.2.2. Perceived strengths and weaknesses 74
8. Conclusions 76
8.1. Characteristics of people who do/do not defer and who claim the increment or lump sum 76
8.2. Motivations for decision-making 78
8.3. Awareness of existing deferral policies 78
8.4. Attitudes to other potential options 79
Appendix A. Response rates 82
Appendix B. Notes on qualitative research methods 86
Appendix C. Fieldwork materials 88
Table 1.1. Number of interviews used in quantitative survey 21
Table 2.1. Perceived knowledge of pensions issues 27
Table 2.2. Proportion in survey groups aware that people can delay claiming their SP 28
Table 2.3. Proportion in survey groups aware that people can continue working after they become eligible for SP 29
Table 2.4. Proportion in survey groups aware that people working after SPA can either claim SP or defer 30
Table 2.5. Awareness of lump sum and increment options amongst those who had already claimed one of the options (percentage saying statement is true) 34
Table 2.6. Sources of information used to find out about deferring SP (top answers) 36
Table 3.1. Work status of current deliberate and accidental deferrers 41
Table 3.2. Work status of respondent and partner at the time of interview, current deliberate deferrers and working claimants 41
Table 3.3. SOC for job spent most of life doing 44
Table 3.4. Proportion of women in survey groups 45
Table 3.5. Proportion with a long-standing illness, disability or infirmity 46
Table 3.6. Income band at the time of interview for respondent (and partner), current deliberate deferrers and working claimants 47
Table 3.7. Perceived financial position, current deliberate deferrers and working claimants 48
Table 3.8. Current sources of income, current deliberate deferrers, working claimants and non-working claimants 49
Table 4.1. Reasons for not claiming SP (prompted) 58
Table 5.1. Preferred option when claiming SP, current deliberate deferrers 61
Table 5.2. Economic activity during deferral 62
Table 5.3. Work status of respondent and partner 62
Table 5.4. Income band at the time of interview, lump sum and increment claimants 64
Table 5.5. Current sources of income, lump sum and increment claimants 65
Table 6.1. Length of time before claimed SP (after being eligible) 69
Table 6.2. Planned age for claiming SP 70
Table 6.3. Reasons for claiming SP when they did (unprompted) 71
Table A.1. Response rates for records drawn from DWP administrative data 83
Table A.2. Response rates for records drawn from recontacted Omnibus respondents 84
Table A.3. Breakdown of interviews by sample source 85
Figure 2.1. Awareness of lump sum and increment options 33
Figure 2.2. Proportions who say they ‘definitely' or ‘probably' remembered receiving information from The Pension Service or DWP 35
Figure 3.1. Hours worked in current job 43
Figure 5.1. Hours worked 63
Figure 7.1. Interest in deferring more than once 73
Figure 7.2. Interest in deferring part of the SP 74