23 December 2008
Closure of final salary pensions in the private sector continued
apace last year, even ahead of the credit crunch and the ballooning
pension deficits it has generated.
Less than a third of defined benefit schemes - chiefly final
salary - are still open to new members, the latest data from the
Pension Regulator show.
In March this year, just 31 per cent were still open to new
staff members, down from 36 per cent in 2007 and from 41 per cent,
measured on a somewhat different basis, in 2006. Half were closed
to new members and a further 17 per cent were closed both to new
members and to any future contributions for existing members.
