Great wealth is held and managed by the trustees of occupational pension
schemes on behalf of the members to whom distributions are made in due
course as a form of deferred remuneration for their work. In 2018, about
45.6 million people were members of occupational pension schemes in the UK, out of
a total population of about 66.4 million (Office for National Statistics, Occupational
Pension Schemes Survey, UK: 2018). The annual total amount saved by eligible savers
into workplace schemes in 2018 was £90.4 billion (Department for Work &
Pensions, Workplace Pension Participation and Savings Trends of Eligible Employees
Official Statistics: 2008 to 2018). Meanwhile, state pensions are the largest item in the
UK social security budget, costing some £93.8 billion in 2017/18 (Office for Budget
Responsibility, Economic and Fiscal Outlook (Cm 9572, 2018), Table 4.23).