Are Gen Z Really Quitting Their Pensions? What the Official Opt-Out Data Says
- 🔑 DWP’s tables show 11.5% of newly auto-enrolled people aged 22 to 29 in Great Britain opted out in October–December 2025, up from 6.6% in the same quarter of 2020. That is a share of new enrolments, not of all young workers, and the rate has risen in steps since 2021.
- People aged 30 to 39 opted out more often than those aged 22 to 29 in October–December 2025, at 12.7% against 11.5%. Every age band in DWP’s table is above its late-2020 level, so the rise is broad rather than confined to the group the headlines call Gen Z.
- Participation has not fallen. In 2025, 90% of eligible employees in Great Britain, or 22.6 million people, were saving into a workplace pension, up one percentage point on 2024. About 85% of eligible employees aged 22 to 25 were saving, the same as in 2024.
- Nobody has established why. The Second Pensions Commission calls the small uptick in opt-outs a concern and says its drivers are unclear. The lowest-earning band in DWP’s table opted out least (8.8%), so the figures alone do not show lower earners driving the rise.
- Employees who opt out within one month of being added get back what they paid in; after that, payments usually stay in the pension until retirement. Employers cannot encourage or force an opt-out and must re-enrol workers every three years. This page is information, not advice.
- DWP’s 22 to 29 band is not the same as Gen Z, and its figures cover Great Britain only, not Northern Ireland. Every figure here comes from DWP, gov.uk or the Pensions Commission, and nothing in this piece predicts what any individual’s pension will be worth.
The official data shows a real rise in opt-outs among young workers, but not a mass exit: 11.5% of newly auto-enrolled people aged 22 to 29 in Great Britain opted out in October–December 2025, up from 6.6% in the same quarter of 2020. That is a share of new enrolments, not of all young workers, and people in their thirties opted out more often. BBC News reported on young workers opting out in early October 2026; the official figures come from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) release of 30 July 2026, the first to split opt-outs by age, gender and earnings, and this page, as of Saturday 3 October 2026, is information rather than advice.
What does the official data say about opt-outs among 22 to 29-year-olds?
DWP’s tables show that 11.5% of newly auto-enrolled people aged 22 to 29 in Great Britain opted out in October–December 2025, compared with 6.6% in October–December 2020. The rise came in steps rather than one jump: the same-quarter figure was 6.4% in 2021, 7.9% in 2022, 9.2% in 2023 and 10.4% in 2024. Across April–December 2025, the three quarters DWP has published for 2025-26, it stayed between 11.3% and 11.8%.
Opt-out rate among newly enrolled employees, October–December quarter:
| Age | 2020 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22-29 | 6.6% | 10.4% | 11.5% |
| 30-39 | 7.4% | 10.3% | 12.7% |
| 40-49 | 7.3% | 9.0% | 10.8% |
| 50-59 | 8.4% | 9.5% | 10.8% |
| 60-SPA | 12.2% | 12.6% | 15.1% |
| All ages | 7.5% | 10.1% | 11.8% |
Source: DWP table 3.1a. SPA means State Pension age.
Does an 11.5% opt-out rate mean young workers have stopped saving?
No: the opt-out rate counts only people who were newly enrolled and then left within the opt-out period, as a share of new enrolments, so it does not measure how many young workers are saving overall. The overall measure is separate. In 2025, 90% of eligible employees in Great Britain, or 22.6 million people, were saving into a workplace pension, up 0.6 million and one percentage point on 2024; across all employees the figure was 82% (24.2 million). For eligible employees aged 22 to 25 it was about 85% in 2024 and 2025 and about 84% in 2022 and 2023, and for ages 26 to 30 about 88%, though these are rounded survey estimates and younger workers have always participated a little less. DWP says participation has levelled off, and that opt-outs and stopping saving have risen in the latest year but remain low as a share of eligible employees.
Is this a Gen Z story or a wider one?
It is a wider one: people aged 30 to 39 opted out more often than people aged 22 to 29 in October–December 2025 (12.7% against 11.5%), and every age band in DWP’s table is above its late-2020 level. Over the year from October–December 2024, the rate for ages 30 to 39 rose by 2.4 percentage points and for ages 22 to 29 by 1.1. DWP’s band is also not Gen Z, usually defined as people born between 1997 and 2012 (roughly ages 13 to 29 in 2026): anyone born in 2005 or later is under 22 and outside auto-enrolment, and the band reaches people born in the mid-1990s. We therefore say ages 22 to 29 who were newly auto-enrolled, and because the data cover Great Britain only, we do not apply them to Northern Ireland. One measure does single out the younger band: existing members stopping saving was 1.4% for ages 22 to 29 in October–December 2025 against 0.8% across all ages, though DWP calls the overall level low.
Why are more people opting out?
Nobody has shown why yet: the Second Pensions Commission, whose interim report appeared on 19 May 2026, calls the small uptick in opt-outs a concern and says its drivers are unclear. It notes that opt-out rates have run at around 8% to 10%, well below the 28% DWP originally assumed. DWP’s own report says only that opt-outs among new savers have been more volatile in recent years, perhaps because of Covid-19 and periods of higher living costs, a tentative suggestion rather than a finding. The earnings breakdown does not point simply at lower earners: in October–December 2025, 8.8% of those earning £10,000 to £19,999 opted out, against 12.9% at £20,000 to £29,999 and 13.6% at £30,000 to £39,999, and the lowest band rose by only 0.4 percentage points over the year (8.4% to 8.8%). Individual accounts, like those in BBC News’s reporting, show why particular people made particular choices, but they cannot on their own explain a national trend.
How does opting out of a workplace pension work?
Under the rules published on gov.uk, a worker who has been automatically enrolled can opt out, and opting out within one month of being added to the scheme returns any money already paid in. Opting out later may not bring a refund, and payments usually stay in the pension until retirement. Employers cannot encourage or force an opt-out, and they must re-enrol workers automatically every three years, or sooner if they choose, with an exception for people who left in the 12 months before that date. A member may also be able to reduce contributions for a short time, depending on the scheme.
Employers must automatically enrol workers aged between 22 and State Pension age who earn at least £10,000 a year, and people outside that group can usually still join if they want to. In most schemes the legal minimum is 8% of earnings between £6,240 and £50,270, with the employer paying at least 3% and the employee 5% (including tax relief). The government’s annual review, published on 18 December 2025, kept the £10,000 trigger and that earnings band unchanged for 2026/27.
What could change the picture next?
The Second Pensions Commission’s final report is planned for Spring 2027, and the earnings thresholds are reviewed every year, so the rules above can move. The interim report discusses lowering the starting age from 22 to 18, which it says would bring nearly 500,000 people aged 18 to 22 earning over £10,000 into saving, while cautioning that the labour market has changed since a 2017 review first proposed it.
Where can I check the figures myself?
The primary sources are DWP’s release “Workplace pension participation and savings trends: 2009 to 2025” (30 July 2026), its Excel tables 3.1a and 3.1b for opt-outs and stopping saving, and gov.uk’s workplace pensions guide. This page does not say whether anyone should opt out, stay in or pay more in, and gov.uk points readers to MoneyHelper and Pension Wise for free, impartial information. Workplace pensions sit on top of the State Pension, which our explainer on the 2026–27 State Pension rates and pension age covers.
How we verified this
Primary source read directly. The opt-out and participation figures come from DWP’s “Workplace pension participation and savings trends: 2009 to 2025” (first published 30 July 2026; the gov.uk page was last updated 4 September 2026 and its change history lists only the first publication). The HTML report, the methodology note and the Excel workbook (tables 1.1, 1.4, 3.1a and 3.1b) were read on 3 October 2026, and every percentage was taken from the workbook itself rather than from a summary.
Cross-checked against four official sources, with no secondary source for any number. These were DWP’s statistical release and workbook; the gov.uk workplace pensions guide (updated 30 September 2026) for the opt-out, re-enrolment and contribution rules; the government’s annual review of the auto-enrolment earnings trigger and qualifying earnings band for 2026/27 (18 December 2025); and the Second Pensions Commission’s interim report (published on gov.uk on 19 May 2026), read for its passages on opt-outs and the starting age.
The BBC report was not used as a source for any figure or quote. Its headline and early-October 2026 date were confirmed from news listings (which differ by a day, so the page says early October), but the article text could not be opened, so no names, case studies or ministerial quotes from it appear. Syndicated copies, some carrying unsourced figures, were not used. A separate provider-published survey of young workers’ retirement prospects was left out: no sample size or method could be found, and its headline numbers are modelled projections.
What the opt-out rate measures. DWP defines it as employees who terminate their workplace pension within the opt-out period, divided by new member enrolments. It is not a share of all young workers. Table 3.1a names HMRC Real Time Information data as its source, while the methodology note lists the definition under pension provider data, so the page calls them DWP’s figures and goes no further. Percentages are DWP’s own, rounded to one decimal place.
Quarter labels. DWP labels quarters by financial year. Q3 is read here as October–December, following the UK financial year that starts in April, so “2025-26 Q3” is October–December 2025, the latest quarter in the table on 3 October 2026. Comparisons always use the same quarter in different years.
Figures that conflict or needed care. Participation by age comes from survey-based estimates (ASHE), rounded to whole percentages, so it is given as “about”. DWP’s report tentatively links volatile opt-outs to Covid-19 and periods of higher living costs, while the Commission says the drivers of the latest uptick are unclear; the page reports both and claims no cause. DWP’s 22 to 29 band is not Gen Z, and the data cover Great Britain only, so nothing is said about Northern Ireland.
Information, not advice. The page describes published statistics and rules. It does not say whether anyone should opt out, stay in or pay in more, and it makes no projection of what any pension will be worth.
Still moving at write time. DWP’s quarterly table may gain a newer quarter before the next annual release; the Commission’s final report is planned for Spring 2027; and the auto-enrolment thresholds (£10,000 trigger, £6,240 to £50,270 band) are reviewed every year, with the 2026/27 values confirmed in the 18 December 2025 review.
No betting odds, spreads or win-probability models appear anywhere on this page, and it contains no forecasts.