A third, 35 per cent, of under 35s believe the state pension will be scrapped at some point due to funding pressures, according to research by YouGov.

A report entitled Bridging the Young Adults Pension Gap found that 58 per cent of under 35s are concerned about whether they will have enough money to support themselves when they stop working.

In addition, the research indicates that 44 per cent of 18-34 year olds have no pension provision whatsoever compared to around a fifth of 35-54s (22 per cent) and over-55s (20 per cent).

YouGov’s study also revealed the extent to which under-35s have a poor knowledge of pensions. Approaching three in ten (27 per cent ) say they simply don’t know understand enough about them in general and even millennials who have a pension aren’t always clear about what it entails – with 14 per cent who do have one not knowing what type it is.

Furthermore, holding back money for retirement is down the list of priorities among those in a position to save. Amongst the adult population, putting cash away for retirement (21 per cent) comes below saving for a holiday (32 per cent) and stashing cash for a rainy day (29 per cent). However, it comes ahead of reasons such as buying a property (14%) and paying for house improvements (10 per cent).

Commenting YouGov’s Kate Fillery said: “With a large ageing population eating into the government’s ability to provide a state pension, and many young people unwilling or unable to feed in to pensions of their own, these figures again suggest a tricky retirement for many.

For retirement to work, there must be balance between young people paying in and old people not being entirely reliant on the state. However, many millennials either simply can’t afford to, while for those that can, financial pressures not necessarily faced by their parents mean that they have other priorities.”

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