If a typical young Dutch person and a typical young British person were both to save the same amount for their pension; if they were to retire on the same day, and die at the same age, the Dutch person is likely to get a pension which is at least 50% higher than the British one. Given that we spend 6.5% of the GNP on private pension savings, there would be a huge advantage to the economy if we could emulate the Dutch system in the UK. There are several reasons for the superiority of the Dutch system. This paper seeks to explain one of them: that in Holland, pension saving is typically still done collectively.

This report looks at how collective pensions are so much more effective than individual provision and how Britain can have a private pension system equal to the best in the world if we 'reinvent' collective pension provision in a way that is sustainable and works for employees and employers.