Youngsters eager but unable to join schemes

But the survey also revealed 56% of 18-21 year-olds do not have access to a company pension, with 13% claiming their employer currently offers one they are not eligible to join.

Just 4% said their company offers a pension, into which both they and their employer pay a regular contribution.

The news comes despite the 18-21 year-olds earning little over the minimum wage – with £9,443 as the average salary for the age group – and 59% admitting concerns over the cost of living, compared with their earnings.

While the majority expressed a strong interest in saving into a pension, 78% of people aged 18-21 have never heard of, or are not familiar with, the meaning of auto-enrolment. Around a third know it will affect them, but have no idea how.

Jamie Fiveash, director of customer solutions at B&CE, said it is a shame under-22 year-olds will be excluded from the auto-enrolment process, saying: “It’s very encouraging that so many under 22s would join a pension scheme.

“As we know, when people start saving at a young age it makes an enormous difference to their pension fund at retirement. Unfortunately, the under 22s won’t be automatically enrolled until they reach 22 so, sadly, many of this group of people who would like to start saving will probably be unaware they can do so.”

And Graham Boffey, director of corporate benefits at Aviva, said the right time to engage with people on pensions is when they are young.

He said: “Younger workers are most concerned about the cost of living, in comparison to their salary. However, we also found they have an appetite to save and are keen to be shown how to manage their money and plan for the future – so finding relevant and engaging ways of communicating with them about long-term saving will become increasingly important if we’re to significantly improve how much people put aside for retirement.”