What happens when a national government requires all employers to auto-enroll workers in a retirement plan?
That's what the U.K. did, beginning in October 2012, starting first with large employers, and eventually extending the requirement to the smallest, with fewer than 30 employees in February 2018, in an effort to boost retirement savings.
The result: "an enormous increase in the share of private-sector employees … saving in a workplace retirement plan," according to an analysis by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. The participation rate overall more than doubled from 32% in 2012 to 67% in 2017.
There is no equivalent requirement for U.S. employers, although more employers are instituting auto-enrollment in their 401(k) plans and several states have enacted compulsory auto-enrollment programs for employers. To date, the U.K. is the only country that has completed a nationwide rollout of a policy requiring employers to establish auto-enrollment in employee retirement plans.
The U.K. plan covers employees 22 and older up to the "state pension age," which is 65 for men and 63 for women who earn at least £10,000 per year ($13,000) and have worked for their employer for at least three months. Employees can opt out.
