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There has been much concern about people not saving enough for retirement in the UK and how to encourage further saving. This has led to pension policy developments, including the introduction of auto-enrolment, a form of 'soft' compulsion, to 'nudge' people to save. Given that young working age cohorts have longest to contribute to pensions and have traditionally been least likely to save for retirement, it is important to investigate their attitudes and expectations in relation to pensions and the potential effects of auto-enrolment on their future retirement income. This study utilises the findings of thirty interviews with young people aged eighteen to thirty about their opportunities and attitudes towards pensions, and identifies a variety of factors which affect pension contributions, including knowledge and advice, trust and myopia. It then focuses explicitly on auto-enrolment before concluding that if auto-enrolment is to succeed, people need to be reassured beyond doubt that it 'pays to save'.

The current financial and economic crisis has serious implications for the underlying ageing challenge. It has demonstrated weaknesses in the design and long-term sustainability of numerous pension schemes. While many EU countries have undertaken measures to adapt to these challenges it is important to ensure that the effects of the crisis and austerity plans do not adversely affect women. Initially this article outlines women's employment and pension situation before considering the implications of the crisis on their pension prospects. Finally, it highlights the need for in-depth discussions about pension systems in the EU which place women at the centre.

AbstractThe future sustainability of pensions has gained considerable international attention over recent years. These concerns have been fuelled by increasing longevity and rising pension deficits. In addition there has been further awareness of the extent of female pensioner poverty. In order to explore this situation a suitable analytical framework is required. As pensions received in retirement are dependent on earlier events in individuals' lives, most notably their employment history, this paper explores the need for a life course approach to examine the gendered nature of pensions in the UK. Initially the life course approach, a key mode of analysis in political economy theory, is defined. It is then used to examine the notion of the changing 'institution' of retirement and its subsequent de‐standardisation. Then, linked to the political economy approach, it is utilised to introduce ways in which employment experiences of men and women impact upon inequalities in retirement. Finally, the article concludes that by employing such an approach to understanding pensions it enables a better appreciation of savings behaviour and opportunities.

AbstractThere has been considerable concern about levels of pension saving especially given increases in longevity and rising pension deficits. In particular, the prospects of many future female pensioners have been questioned. As pensions are determined by contributions throughout the life course it is imperative to comprehend the attitudes, knowledge, expectations and savings habits of people from an early age to explore why under‐saving occurs. This is particularly pertinent given recent governments' emphasis on individual responsibility for financial provision in retirement. However, there is little research which focuses specifically on young women's attitudes or planning towards pensions despite considerable concern about the future of women's pensions. This article considers young women's (18–30) attitudes towards pensions and whether they differ according to socio‐economic status by using interviews with 15 women (five in routine and manual occupations, five intermediate, five professional and managerial) about how knowledge and choice, trust, responsibility, risk and uncertainty impact on their pension decisions. It is evident that the ability and willingness of people to contribute to a pension depends, among other things, on the pension offered by employers, the pension requirements in place and immediate financial needs. Therefore this article shows that pension policy needs to take into account women's employment histories, which are often fragmented and diverse, when considering young women's attitudes towards pension saving.

Poverty is encountered by the majority of users of social services but is often overlooked in social work practice. This article explores the relationship between poverty in older age, pension receipt and the role of social policy formulation in the UK with particular reference to New Labour governance. It also briefly explores the EU context before considering the implications for social work.

This article employs a political economy approach to assess the changing nature of women's pension provision. Initially it provides an overview of the current context showing that many female pensioners are without access to significant pension entitlements in their own right. Then it examines the history of women's pensions over the last 30 years with reference to both state and private forms of provision. It considers the pension strategies of Thatcher and New Labour governments and their impact on women's pension situation. This includes an evaluation of recent New Labour proposals, such as Personal Accounts, a raise in the basic State Pension age and reintroduction of the link to earnings. Finally, the paper concludes that these proposals do not represent the emergence of a new political economy of pensions which better reflects the needs of female pensioners rather they are a response to the challenges of an ageing population.

Gender differences in the accumulation of pension savings are well documented. Work in this field has concluded that while differing lifetime work profiles (and family history) explained much of the difference, other factors such as pension knowledge and confidence in decision-making, may also be significant. This research, commissioned by the Fawcett Society and funded by Scottish Widows, explores some of these factors through the use of 30 semi-structured interviews and a focus group with women (aged 24–39) about their attitudes and motivations towards pension saving. It concentrates on discussions around pension knowledge, advice and decision-making, and identifies challenges in relation to women's pension knowledge and the use of male 'role models' in making decisions. The article then explores potential policy mechanisms to enhance women's pension saving for retirement, including the manner in which information and advice is provided and strategies to improve confidence in pension decision-making.

There is continuing concern about the paucity of social science graduates who have the quantitative skills required by academia and industry. Not only do students often lack the confidence to explore, and use, statistical techniques, the dominance of qualitative research in many disciplines has also often constrained programme-level integration of more quantitative material. However, whilst the topic of statistical literacy is relatively well researched within the more general educational literature, the evidence-base with respect to the effectiveness of teaching and learning of quantitative research methods in the social science remains somewhat limited. This paper describes the development, integration and evaluation of a series of student-led inquiry-based quantitative workbooks within a sociology/social policy undergraduate degree. It outlines how the workbooks were constructively aligned within a 'methods spine' and offers some insight into quantitative teaching and learning generally. The paper also discusses some of the opportunities and challenges of taking both an aligned and IBL approach to the teaching of quantitative methods. In doing so it adds to growing evidence that 'problem-based pedagogies' tend to increase educational gain over and above more didactic approaches to learning and teaching. It highlights three key findings: programme-level approaches to curriculum design can be crucial in improving quantitative skills, particularly where they are tailored to student needs; a general indifference to quantitative methods is likely to be due to a process of disenfranchisement that happens before and during students' engagement with university; and, meaningfully engaging students as partners in the process of designing, integrating and evaluating curricula can help to overcome some of the barriers associated with the learning and teaching of quantitative skills.