Why Gen Z are planning for life without a state pension

ByColletta SmithBBC Your Voice correspondentJoel has finally landed his first graduate engineering job after several years of lower‑paid roles. He's in his early 20s, lives with his parents and works in London. But instead of splashing the extra cash, or saving up for holidays or a house deposit, he's decided to squirrel more of it away into his workplace pension.

The reason? He doesn't think he'll get any kind of state pension. Like Joel, around half of Gen Z (those born from 1997–2012) say they don't expect the state pension to exist by the time they retire. It's pretty stark to hear, but growing up with constant headlines about an ageing population, a proportionally smaller working-age population, and the pressure that government finances are under, Joel thinks it's his generation that will suffer.

"I don't believe that I'll be a recipient of a state pension. I know a lot of people my age don't think they're going to be... There just won't be enough money," he says.

Retirement has always felt distant when you're in your 20s - something to think about later. But what's emerging among today's under‑30s is something different: not just distance, but doubt.

"It just mathematically doesn't make sense… There has to get to a point where that state pension is taking up too much of the budget and can't exist in the way that it exists right now," Joel says.

The state pension age is shifting. At the start of April, the age at which you receive it began to gradually creep up, rising from 66 years to 67 years by March 2028. It's due to go up again in 20 years' time to 68, though that might happen earlier as the government has an ongoing independent review.

That's a frustration for 27-year-old retail manager Connor, who got in touch via BBC Your Voice, because he says "the goalpost keeps moving". "At the minute I'll be 68 by the time I can retire, but I do think I'll be probably closer to 75, if I'm honest."

More than 13 million people - 19% of the population - are currently of state pension age. By 2050, even with the state pension age rising to 68, that group is projected to exceed 15 million people, nearly a quarter of the population, with numbers projected to climb towards 17 million by the 2070s. In other words, there will be lots more people qualifying for the state pension, and fewer working people, as a proportion, paying taxes into the pot to cover the bill.

At the same time, almost half of working‑age adults are not paying into a private pension pot. That means many will be relying solely on the state pension for their retirement income - and with relative poverty rates among pensioners now at 14%, we can already see how difficult that can be.

Experts warn that if a whole generation stops believing the state pension will be there, it could push people towards more risky investments, prompt overly restrictive behaviour, or lead others not to save at all.

So, are we heading towards a major pension crisis for many in Gen Z? And if we are, might the Gen Z generation end up redefining what retirement looks like?

For those hitting the state pension milestone today, as long as they've made 35 years of National Insurance contributions, they're entitled to £241.30 a week.