The UBS research found a 50-year-old woman in London can expect just 41% of her current income in retirement [Image: Eyebyte/Alamy].

British workers can expect among the worst pensions in the developed world, according to a report from investment bank UBS, which compared the retirement outlook for a 50-year-old woman in major cities across the globe.

UBS calculated how much a country’s basic state pension, plus “mandated” pensions such as the UK’s automatic enrolment scheme and Australia’s “superannuation” scheme, would pay out as a proportion of the income of a 50-year-old “average Jane” living in the capital city.

It found that Jane in London can expect just 41% of her current income in retirement, on a par with Hong Kong and just one place above the lowest-ranked city, Taipei in Taiwan.

Singapore, Sydney, Paris and Milan topped the table. UBS found Australia’s pension system was one of the most sustainable, with companies compelled to put aside 9.5% of a worker’s salary in a pension scheme. The UK’s auto-enrolment scheme, which is loosely modelled on the Australian one, compels British employers to pay just 1% of salary, rising to 3% in 2019.

The payouts from the Australian “super” scheme, on top of the country’s basic state pension, mean that a 50-year-old female in Sydney today can expect to retire at age 67 with an income of 72% of her current salary, compared with 41% in London.

Source: UK pensions among the worst in the developed world, study finds | Money | The Guardian

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