Millions of self-employed to benefit from pension revolution

Up to five million self-employed are set to benefit from pension changes which could see them picking their own state pension age and being automatically enrolled in pension schemes.

The expected addition to pension reforms has followed pressure on the government to help avoid a pension crisis amongst the UK’s self-employed. The changes were sparked by Work and Pensions Select Committee who launched a formal review of self-employed workers' benefits; with automatic enrolment at the heart of the planning.

The change will get millions of self-employed people saving, creating a major boost to their retirement funds. The success could emulate that of the auto-enrolment scheme for employed workers, which has led to an extra 11 million people saving. 

Experts have welcomed the inclusion of the self-employed into auto-enrolment as long overdue as they had for years been excluded from major improvements to the UK's pension system. It is thought that DWP officials had already admitted that excluding the self-employed from auto-enrolment was a major problem.

The Minister for Pensions, Richard Harrington said: “It is clear automatic enrolment is playing a key role in shaping the retirement landscape for generations to come. However I want to build on this success and will be looking at how we can get even more people saving, and saving more."