In 2014, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association in conjunction with Club Vita looked at the difference in future life expectancy between the national population and members of DB pension schemes. Based on data from 2.5m live pensioners and over 1m deaths, it was the first analysis of its kind.

The research concluded that improvements in longevity between 2000 and 2010 for pension scheme members differed from the England and Wales population. And that there were significant differences in the pace of life expectancy increases among different affluence/lifestyle groups.

For 2017 the PLSA and Club Vita have launched our second longevity report entitled: Does one size fit all? Dividing scheme members into the same socio-economic groups as before, this latest research found the following:

Those pensioners in our lower income categories (‘Hard-Pressed’ and ‘Making-Do’) have seen little, if any, increase in longevity since 2011

Pensioners in our ‘Comfortable’ group have, on the contrary, seen their life expectancy increase at a steady pace over the last 15 years

The report also includes some updated scenarios for the future, representing a broad range of longevity outcomes, and provides guidance to schemes as to how they can use the PLSA Longevity Trends Model using only a small amount of easily accessible data.

This information should help enable better decision-making and management by pension scheme trustees and sponsors, as it provides a more nuanced evidence base than the general data models most commonly used.

This resulting report (below) is intended as a high level summary of the results of our Research Project. If you want to know more, including much of the technical detail of the research that we have carried out, follow the links at the bottom of this article.

Our Technical Documents are written with an informed audience in mind.  This includes actuaries and other pension scheme advisors that want to implement some of our research findings in their advice to you as trustees. However, we would encourage other interested readers not to be put off looking at the Technical Documents as we have sought to make them accessible to a wide audience. Requests for printed copies of the technical document and any queries on the document are best addressed to [email protected].