Editorial: David Cameron received a tap on the wrist from the Electoral Commission last week for his choice of words on the Brexit referendum question.
The proposal ‘Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union?’ was deemed to be biased – ie in a yes-no scenario people are more likely to say yes. This was a key cause of consternation in the Scottish independence vote last year.
In the EU referendum bill going through parliament, the question will now become ‘Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?’
Framing big questions in a way that avoids bias or influence is important in all areas of debate and discussion, including pensions.
Illustration by Ben Jennings
Last week Hargreaves Lansdown released some interesting and timely research on attitudes towards tax-incentivised pension saving.
It found that for the most part, individuals favoured the flat rate of 33 per cent, and for that relief to be given upfront rather than at the point of withdrawal. There was also a general dislike of the lifetime allowance.
A couple of graphs showing some of the enlightening findings of this survey of 2,300 investors from all ages and tax bands can be seen in our tax feature this week.
But the study also asked questions such as ‘Do you think more people would consider a pension if the system was easier to understand?’ and ‘Do you think the government should simplify the current system?’ – both of which imply that the current regime is complex and needs to be fixed.
The results, while possibly perfectly valid and true, give the appearance of being somewhat led by how the questions were framed. The answer to both was a majority yes across most age groups.
These examples demonstrate how careful we need to be as an industry when assessing the wants and needs of pension savers, especially as this period of major reform continues to develop.
And those feeding into the tax consultation would also do well to be mindful of the proposals igniting any of their own personal biases.
Maxine Kelly is editor at Pensions Expert. You can follow her on Twitter @MaxineEK and the team @pensions_expert
