This summary provides the findings of a study commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), to evaluate workers’ experiences of automatic enrolment. In particular, it sought to understand the characteristics and motivations of those who decided to opt out of or leave their workplace pension after being automatically enrolled.

The research was qualitative and consisted of interviews with 50 workers who were automatically enrolled into a workplace pension scheme by large employers between October 2012 and July 2013, and who subsequently opted out or left the scheme. The workers in this research came from a range of age groups, income groups, gender, and employer types.

The report found that workers fell broadly into six types based on their main motivation for opting out: type 1: affordability; type 2: other financial priorities; type 3: other provision; type 4: insufficient time to build up pension savings; type 5: imminent changes to employment situation; and type 6: contribution rate perceived to be too low.