Almost half (45 per cent) of UK adults believe that being auto-enrolled into a workplace pension means they are saving enough for retirement – a figure that rises to 61 per cent among Gen Z and 51 per cent among Millennials, according to Standard Life’s Retirement Voice 2025 report.

By contrast, only 26 per cent of Baby Boomers and 36 per cent of Gen X share this belief, with Standard Life noting that confidence in the default savings minimum declines with age as people become more engaged with retirement planning or begin to realise they have been undersaving.

Standard Life described auto-enrolment as “hugely successful” in boosting the number of people saving into a workplace pension.

However, it highlighted research from the University of Edinburgh that found evidence of an anchoring bias – where individuals place too much emphasis on the default contribution rate.

“Inertia and ‘status quo bias’ also lead people to carry on with their current state of affairs,” the report stated. “Partly as a result of these cognitive biases, many people never change the default minimum contribution level they’re saving into their pension after being auto-enrolled by their employer.”

Indeed, the research revealed that only 31 per cent of respondents have voluntarily increased their workplace pension contributions beyond the minimum level.

Just over a fifth (22 per cent) have consolidated two or more pension pots, 12 per cent have searched for or tracked a lost pension, and 10 per cent have switched to a higher-risk fund.

A further 10 per cent reported making a one-off additional contribution, 9 per cent have opted out of a workplace pension altogether, 5 per cent have moved to a lower-risk fund, and another 5 per cent have switched to a green or sustainable investment fund.

However, 42 per cent of respondents said they had taken none of these actions regarding their workplace pensions.

By generation, Baby Boomers are the most likely to have taken no action (52 per cent), which Standard Life suggested may be because defined contribution (DC) pensions are less significant for this group, who are more likely to hold defined benefit (DB) pensions.

Gender differences were also apparent, with men (35 per cent) more likely than women (26 per cent) to have increased their pension contributions.

The research also showed that financial advice makes a difference too, as 46 per cent of those who have used a financial adviser said they had increased their contributions, compared with just 27 per cent of those who haven’t.

Previous research from Standard Life's Retirement Voice 2025 report revealed that despite half (53 per cent) of UK adults worrying they aren’t saving enough for retirement, only 15 per cent have pension saving as one of their top financial priorities for the year.

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