Pension scheme membership declines

The popularity of final salary pension schemes has dipped once again, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has claimed.

According to new figures, the number of people paying into a scheme in the private sector fell from three million in 2006 to 2.7 million in 2007.

However, membership of final salary schemes in the public sector increased slightly to 5.2 million. Overall 8.8 million people paid into employer schemes last year, down from 9.2 million in 2006.

The availability of final salary pension schemes has continued to decline over recent years, with many employers opting to close such schemes on the grounds that they are too expensive to finance.

Just 57% of final salary scheme members in the private sector were in schemes still available to new joiners, the ONS said.

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