Shanghai retiree Mou Guoying has been crocheting wool roses for Beijing Olympic medalists’ bouquets for the past three months – Copyright AFP Jessica YANG
Searches for “pension assistance” hit a ten-year high in the UK as the cost of living crisis mounts. This crisis is a mixture global economic problems, some of which are related to the war in Ukraine and government policies. The main source of rising cost of living is rising prices in the energy sector.
Web search data shows that online searches for “retirement assistance” are up 157 percent from the same period ten years ago, a new record for those seeking retirement assistance. In addition, new research has identified the best industries to work with with good employer pension contributions, with the general government and defense sector (including mandatory social security) coming out on top.
Google Trends data analysis by investment comparison site Investment Reviews found that the number of requests for “retirement assistance” has more than doubled over the past ten years on the back of rising costs of living and surges in inflation.
For the review, the company analyzed data from the Office for National Statistics to determine which industry has the highest percentage of its workforce receiving employer pension contributions of 20 percent or more.
Result:
| Best Industries to Work in Retirement | ||
| Industry | classify | Percentage of employers that contribute 20% or more to employee pensions |
| Public administration and defense (including mandatory social security) | one | 67.9 |
| Education | 2 | 64.0 |
| Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning | 3 | 19.4 |
| Human health and social work | four | 15.4 |
| Water supply | 5 | 10.6 |
| Arts and Entertainment | 6 | 8.5 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 7 | 7.6 |
| Transport and storage | eight | 7.2 |
| Real estate transactions | 9 | 6.2 |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities | ten | 4.0 |
The study shows that public administration and defense employers (including mandatory social security) are the most generous when it comes to pension contributions, with 67.9 percent of employers contributing 20 percent or more to their employees’ pension basket.
Education is the second best sector to work in when it comes to employer contributions to your pension. The share of employers in the education sector contributing 20 percent or more is 64.0 percent. This is the second highest percentage among all industries. The high percentage of contributions is likely due to the fact that both industries are heavily based on the public and private sectors.
Employers in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning sector who contribute 20% or more to their employees’ pension basket account for 19.4%.
Commenting on patterns in the data, a spokesman for Investing Reviews said. digital magazine: “It is very important to prepare and invest in your future now more than ever. However, this is easier said than done given rising costs in all walks of life. While it’s not surprising that people are turning to their pensions for help, these numbers underscore a worrying shift in how Britons feel about their pensions.”
