A new survey by the Alliance and Leicester suggests that many people don’t have savings plans for retirement, and that women are less prepared than men. Only 34% said they had made some retirement provision, and this broke down into 29% of women questioned, compared to 40% of men. The survey involved 2000 respondents.

The figures suggest a small increase this in the number of people with pension plans, but no major response to government attempts to alert the public to the issue.

The Alliance & Leicester report tracks the nation’s saving, spending, investment and borrowing habits on a quarterly basis. Alliance and Leicester asked 2000 people, which savings and investment products, if any, they held, either in their own name or jointly with another person.

Other findings included:
People living in East Anglia top the regional tables, with one in two people (50%) having taken out a pension, almost double that of people in Wales and Yorkshire (26%). People living in East Midlands are almost twice as likely than the Welsh to hold a savings account (53% vs. 32%). Men were more active in the stockmarket than women (14% vs. 9%) and those in East Anglia were most keen to take a risk on the stock market (24%).