Constituency data: Pension Credit claimants
Explore constituency-level data on state pensioners claiming Pension Credit in Great Britain using our interactive dashboard.

The paper discusses pensions auto-enrolment, its introduction, the impact it has had, and the potential for future reform.
Pensions: Automatic enrolment - current issues (654 KB , PDF)
Employers must enrol eligible employees into a pension scheme. Unless the employee opts-out, both the employee and employer contribute to the pension.
Employees eligible for auto-enrolment are those who:
In 2025/26, employers must make contributions on earnings between £6,240 (the lower earnings limit) and £50,270 (the upper earnings limit).
The government phased-in auto-enrolment by employer size (number of employees) between October 2012 and February 2018.
The minimum amounts employees and employers contribute also increased gradually. Contributions reached the full amount, 8% of earnings, in April 2019. Employers contribute a minimum 3% and employees 5% (including tax relief).
The policy reversed the decline in workplace pension saving. There was a tenfold increase in members contributing to defined contribution occupational pension schemes, from 0.9 million in 2011 to 10.6 million in 2019.
Auto-enrolment is widely agreed to have been a success. However, there are concerns that many are still under-saving for retirement. A review of the policy in 2017 proposed lowering the age threshold for auto-enrolment from 22 years to 18 and removing the lower limit of the ‘qualifying earnings band,’ so that contributions are paid from the first pound earned.
The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 gave the Secretary of State the power to:
During the passage of the Act, the Conservative government confirmed its intention to reduce the lower age limit to 18 years old. The government has not yet introduced the changes. Following the 2024 election, the Labour government said in November 2024 that it would consider “if and when to make changes to [auto enrolment], balancing the need for improved pension outcomes with the effects on businesses.”
Pensions: Automatic enrolment - current issues (654 KB , PDF)
Explore constituency-level data on state pensioners claiming Pension Credit in Great Britain using our interactive dashboard.
The state pension is liable to income tax, though pensioners are unlikely to pay tax in practice if their only income is the state pension.
This briefing discusses changes to the lifetime and annual allowances - which limit tax relief on pension savings.