It saw a huge problem coming, admitted it existed, gathered evidence before shouting about ideology, and then produced a reform that actually worked.
Before the Commission, workplace pension saving was heading in the wrong direction. Defined benefit schemes were closing, too many people were saving nothing, and the official strategy seemed to be to ask millions of busy people to compare contribution rates, investment funds, tax relief, longevity risk and compound returns —after a long day at work and before putting the bins out. No chance!
The Commission’s genius was that it didn’t just spot the problem. It solved the politics of the problem. The Commission separated facts from solutions. First, it built a shared evidence-base that employers, unions, politicians and think-tanks could broadly accept. Only then did it move to answers.
And the results are extraordinary. Policies emerged that changed the landscape -automatic enrolment helped turn pension saving from something many people meant to get round to into the default. Participation among eligible employees rose from around 55% in 2012 to close to 90% today. Around 11 million more people are saving into a workplace pension. Opt-out rates stayed low. That’s not a tweak. That’s a national behavioural shift.
It worked because the Commission understood something profound about human nature: inertia is powerful. Inertia is the reason we still have cables in drawers for devices we no longer own. But auto-enrolment turned inertia into a policy engine. Instead of demanding that every worker become a pensions expert, it changed the default. Saving became normal, but people still had choice. That is not just clever policy design; it is merciful policy design.
It also achieved something even rarer: endurance. The settlement survived the financial crisis, austerity, Brexit and COVID. It survived the political equivalent of being put through a washing machine with loose change and a house brick. In pensions, durability is not a nice extra; it is the whole point. A pension promise that lasts only until the next election is not a pension promise.
However, the first Commission didn’t have a big enough brief at that time. Getting people saving something is not the same as ensuring they save enough. Low-paid and part-time workers, the self-employed and people with fragmented small pots still face serious gaps. NEST was constrained. Contributions remain contested. Demographics and working patterns have changed (as we knew they would). That’s why the Commission has been revived after 20 years: Pensions Commission 2: Adequacy is the sequel!
And if we want to understand the critical importance of a pensions commission, we go back not 20 years, but two thousand and 20 years. Augustus reviewed the pensions system in Ancient Rome and created the pioneering Aerarium Militare (a lump sum of c£30,000 after 20 years service) because Rome also understood that pensions are not just about old age; they are about stability, loyalty and preventing heavily armed veterans from becoming a state problem. The Romans didn’t have auto-enrolment as we know it. But they did have bonus sacrifice, pension funding through inheritance tax and VAT, good administration, reality shows in the Coliseum and a clear appreciation that underpaid retirees with swords were to be avoided.
That is why the Pensions Commission matters. It changed participation, cut through political toxicity, strengthened the state pension settlement, reduced pensioner poverty, and gave us a method for dealing with long-term problems before they arrive.
Its conclusions reached millions across generations without coercion. It turned inertia from an enemy into an ally. It built consensus where there had been drift. It created a reform that endured.
Now we need to repeat that with a Commission (or even an Inquiry) on pension fraud and the scandal of tax charges on victims – it could change lives and our economy.
Margaret Snowdon, Founder and Chair – PSIG
