Over half (55%) of employees would say the pandemic has made them more aware of the importance of saving for the future, a study from Cushon has found.

The research undertaken by the workplace pension and savings provider also found that only one in ten (11%) feel like they can’t afford to put money aside at present.

Cushon’s research revealed that half (52%) would be more likely to save if their employer set it up for them, or if it came out of their salary directly, such as national insurance contributions.

The findings, based on a survey of 2,002 UK employed adults, also found that more than six in ten (62%) people would stay in a workplace savings scheme if their employer automatically put them in. This increased to 69% if the employer contributes too.

While 22% indicated they are not sure what they would do, only around one in ten would definitely come out of the scheme according to the findings – which Cushion highlighted is a similar opt-out rate to pensions.

“It’s great to see that attitudes towards saving are slowly changing for the good, particularly among young people who are now twice as likely to think about the future than the here and now,” commented Cushon CEO and founder, Ben Pollard. “But there is still much more that could be done to support those who aren’t in this mindset.

“Similar to pensions prior to auto-enrolment, it’s clear that inertia plays a big part. We believe that the government should look to allow employers to automatically enrol employees into workplace saving schemes albeit with safeguards in place, such as education around saving versus debt repayment.

“We know from our research that the appetite is there among employees and, even without an employer contribution, the majority would remain in a scheme. In the meantime, employers should think about setting up workplace savings schemes as part of their benefits offering and even consider contributing.”

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