One in five are opting to shun a pension plan

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Around 21% of people who are in a position to be paying into a pension are failing to do so, according to life insurer Scottish Widows.

There has also been a sharp drop in the number of people who are saving adequately for retirement during the past 12 months, with the proportion dropping from 54% to 48%, its lowest level since 2006.

The amount that people are saving towards their retirement has also fallen during the past year, with people aged over 30 who earn more than £10,000 a year and do not have access to a final-salary pension scheme typically setting aside 9.2% of their pay.

This is down from 9.3% a year earlier and falls short of the 12% that Scottish Widows estimates people should save in order to have a comfortable retirement.

Ian Naismith, head of pensions market development at Scottish Widows, said: "The last two years have been tough on the economy, and we are finally seeing the effects trickling through to pensions savings.

"The previous three years saw a steady rise in the number of people saving adequately for retirement, but now we are seeing the full impact of the downturn on people's retirement pots."