Work, Saving and Retirement Among Ethnic Minorities: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

BackgroundPensioners living in households headed by someone from a minority ethnic group are more likely to live on a low income and many face significant barriers to accessing benefits.Ethnic minorities have been identified as an under-pensioned group, and they are significantly less likely than the white population to have access to a private pension.Yet there are some significant gaps in existing knowledge about minority ethnic groups and their experiences and understanding of work and pensions.There is also a need to provide a more nuanced account of differences amongst and between minority ethnic groups.Ethnic minority experiences of the labour market, financial planning, and retirement are multifaceted.Whilst there are differences between ethnic groups, there are also commonalities, such as gender and generation.There is a need to distinguish issues associated with low income from those more directly related to cultural and religious beliefs and practices.The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) commissioned a qualitative research study in Spring 2005 to examine the different factors that affect the work, saving and retirement decisions of ethnic minority groups.The aim was to fill acknowledged gaps in existing research by examining the characteristics and circumstances of people from these groups which affect work, saving and retirement, and to ensure that policies are appropriate and sensitive to cultural differences.Such issues were further highlighted by the subsequent publication of the Pensions Commission's second report 'A new Pension Settlement for the Twenty-First century' at the end of 2005 and the Government's White Paper 'Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system' in May 2006.The research consisted of 60 semi-structured interviews conducted in autumn 2005, with people from the six main ethnic minority groups in the UK (Indian, Pakistani, black Caribbean, black African, Bangladeshi and Chinese) and included both those below and above state pension age.

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