Joel has finally landed his first graduate engineering job after years of lower-paid roles. He is in his early 20s, lives with his parents, and works in London. But instead of spending his extra cash on holidays or a house deposit, he is putting more into his workplace pension. The reason? He does not think he will ever get a state pension.
"I don't believe that I'll be a recipient of a state pension. I know a lot of people my age don't think they're going to be... There just won't be enough money," he says.
“Half of Gen Z don't expect a state pension, so young workers like Joel are saving more privately.”
Joel is not alone. Around half of Gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – say they do not expect the state pension to exist by the time they retire. Growing up with headlines about an ageing population and squeezed government finances, Joel believes his generation will suffer. "It just mathematically doesn't make sense… There has to get to a point where that state pension is taking up too much of the budget and can't exist in the way that it exists right now."
The state pension age is already shifting. This April it began rising from 66 to 67, due to complete by March 2028. It is scheduled to go up again to 68 in 20 years, though an ongoing independent review could bring that forward. For 27-year-old retail manager Connor, that feels like a moving target. "At the minute I'll be 68 by the time I can retire, but I do think I'll be probably closer to 75, if I'm honest."
The numbers explain the pessimism. More than 13 million people – 19% of the population – currently receive the state pension. By 2050, even with the age at 68, that group is projected to exceed 15 million, nearly a quarter of the population, and climb towards 17 million by the 2070s. That means more people drawing the pension and fewer working people paying taxes to fund it.
Yet almost half of working-age adults are not paying into a private pension pot, leaving many to rely solely on the state. Relative poverty among pensioners already stands at 14%. For Gen Z, the maths does not add up – and they are acting accordingly.