London, 19 March 2026: Wage growth was down to its lowest level for five years at 3.8 per cent at the beginning of 2026, while unemployment persisted near its five-year high of 5.2 per cent in the three months to January 2026, according to official data published this morning.
The Office for National Statistics figures showed earnings growth was up by 0.5% after inflation, in the three months to January.
Becky O’Connor, Head of Pensions at PensionBee, said: “A knock-on effect of lower wage growth and a strained job market is that people may be tempted to pay less into their pensions.
The short term difficulties of finding a well-paying job and then possibly having to settle for less, often means taking a hit on long term financial security.
There's no escaping the harsh reality that people who are out of work for a while, or who find themselves in lower paid employment, who struggle to put money away now may suffer from the slow but deep hit of pension insufficiency later on.
The inadequacy of current pension savings is the nettle that the Pensions Commission wants to grasp, but with such significant headwinds from economic forces affecting how much people feel able to contribute to the future - finding ways to boost private pension provision for all will require more urgent and creative thinking.”
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