A survey recently commissioned in the UK by the BBC suggests that up to 50% of adults ranging between 20 and 60 years old aren’t making any contributions to a pension.

The survey of 1,358 people by GfK NOP – a leading market research and consumer insight agency, suggests the situation was worst among under 30s, with around 1 in 3 – 36% putting anything aside towards pension schemes or savings accounts.

Many young people cannot afford to make contributions, with a number trading it with paying off debts such as credit cards or loans.

The survey showed that 45 percent of participants aged between 41 and 60 are not contributing towards a pension.

There are several reasons for this, which include the large rate of unemployment in the current climate, as well as many women that never joined a scheme due to leaving full time employment at pregnancy.

A number of the younger people among those that took part in the survey said that their reasoning behind not having set up a pension had been due to either not being well informed enough, or because they felt that they still had a long time before now and retirement so would purse it at a later date.

Although 36 percent of those aged under 30 that took part in the survey had a pension, almost 50 percent said that they felt confident they would be able to have a comfortable retirement.

Chief executive Ed Gardner of UK retirement and savings at pension and insurance firm Metlife, said young people should not presume that this would be the case. The rate of generous final salary pension schemes is reducing, which as a result may cause next generation of pension planners to rely on defined contribution pension schemes, offering lower returns.

Mr Gardner said: “Unfortunately the tide has turned and younger people face even more challenges in saving for their retirement”.

People may need to decide exactly how much money they will need in order to be retired by the age of 65, with enough to cover up to about 25 years.

Mr Gardner said: “What you will find is that many people are currently saving nowhere near enough,”.