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Tax Reform and Retirement Saving Incentives: Take‐up of Stakeholder Pensions in the UK

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  • RICHARD DISNEY
  • CARL EMMERSON
  • MATTHEW WAKEFIELD

Abstract

In April 2001, the UK government introduced Stakeholder Pensions – a new private pension arrangement. The reform also changed the structure of tax‐relieved pension contribution ceilings, increasing their generosity for lower‐earners. We examine the impact of these changes on private pension coverage using individual level data. We use a difference‐in‐differences strategy with an estimator that is modified to allow for dichotomous outcomes. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that the Stakeholder Pension reforms had little or no impact on saving behaviour, our results indicate that the change to the contribution ceilings affected private pension coverage rates among lower‐earners, especially among women.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Disney & Carl Emmerson & Matthew Wakefield, 2010. "Tax Reform and Retirement Saving Incentives: Take‐up of Stakeholder Pensions in the UK," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 77(306), pages 213-233, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:econom:v:77:y:2010:i:306:p:213-233
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0335.2008.00749.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jarkko Harju, 2013. "Voluntary Pension Savings and Tax Incentives: Evidence from Finland," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 69(1), pages 3-29, March.
    2. Hans Fehr & Fabian Kindermann, 2010. "Pension Funding and Individual Accounts in Economies with Life-cyclers and Myopes," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 56(3), pages 404-443, September.
    3. Harju Jarkko, 2014. "Policy evaluation methods in tax research – new evidence and interpretations," Nordic Tax Journal, Sciendo, vol. 2014(1), pages 76-92, May.
    4. Hans Fehr & Fabian Kindermann, 2010. "Pension Funding and Individual Accounts in Economies with Life-cyclers and Myopes," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 56(3), pages 404-443, September.
    5. Athiphat Muthitacharoen & Trongwut Burong, 2022. "How do taxpayers respond to tax subsidy for long-term savings? Evidence from Thailand’s tax return data," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(3), pages 726-750, June.
    6. Jonathan Cribb & Carl Emmerson, 2016. "What happens when employers are obliged to nudge? Automatic enrolment and pension saving in the UK," IFS Working Papers W16/19, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    7. Carter Andrew Dudley, 2022. "Does the early release of retirement savings prolong labor market participation for workers approaching retirement? Evidence from Australia's “Transition to Retirement Income Streams” program," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 12(1), pages 1-36, January.
    8. Martin Jacob, 2013. "Capital Gains Taxes and the Realization of Capital Gains and Losses - Evidence from German Income Tax Data," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 69(1), pages 30-56, March.
    9. Martin Beznoska & Richard Ochmann, 2013. "The interest elasticity of household savings: a structural approach with German micro data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 371-399, August.

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