More than a third (37 per cent) of people with a private pension have reduced, paused or stopped contributions following a major life event, research from Standard Life has found.

The study found this rose to 45 per cent after a career break, 44 per cent following redundancy, 33 per cent after becoming self-employed and 21 per cent after having children.

However, major life events can also prompt higher pension saving, with 16 per cent of respondents who had experienced one saying they increased contributions as a result.

Becoming self-employed was the strongest trigger, with 18 per cent increasing contributions, while 11 per cent did so after having children.

Other events linked to higher contributions included taking a career break (7 per cent), moving up the property ladder (6 per cent) and separating from a spouse (6 per cent).

Separate research from Standard Life found that 19 per cent only review their pension following a major life event or financial change.

Among those who do not review their pension regularly, 17 per cent said they only think about it when something changes, while 15 per cent did not know where to start and 14 per cent said they did not think about their pension at all.

Commenting on the research, Standard Life managing director for workplace and retail intermediary, Emma Furlonger, said: “It’s understandable that big changes in our lives make us think differently about our finances.

“Starting a family, becoming self-employed or seeing our circumstances change can naturally prompt us to think about what we’re putting away for the future, and it’s really positive to see that these moments are leading many people to increase their pension contributions as a result.”

Furlonger added that pension saving levels are likely to fluctuate throughout working life but stressed that decisions to increase or reduce contributions should be considered rather than driven by immediate financial pressures, highlighting the importance of regular pension engagement to help savers make informed choices.

“A major life event can be a helpful reminder to check in, but it shouldn’t take one to get us thinking about our retirement savings,” she concluded.

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