A 2026 REPORT FOR UK HR LEADERS

What Gen Z Actually Wants From Their Pension

Gen Z is now a quarter of your workforce, and the way they think about pensions has nothing to do with the way schemes were designed.

They use their banking app every week and their pension app almost never. They rate their financial confidence higher than any generation before them, yet fewer than one in ten can pass a basic literacy test. They will reject a job over values, switch employers for a better pension, and leave a trail of forgotten pots behind them.

This 24-page report pulls together 28 primary sources to map the six gaps between what Gen Z says they want and what UK workplace pensions actually deliver. Enter your details below and we will email you the full report plus a 7-step HR playbook.

Hand holding a book showing "What Gen Z Actually Wants From Their Pension" on the cover

What’s Inside?

A research-backed look at the generation reshaping retention, plus a practical playbook you can take into your next benefits review. You will learn:

Why 27% of Gen Z rate their pension confidence 10 out of 10, while only 10% pass a basic literacy test
The engagement gap: 81% of Gen Z use a banking app weekly, only 6% open a pension app
Why 88% want values-aligned investments and 1 in 3 have rejected a job over ESG
How 3.3 million lost pension pots worth £31.1bn are quietly damaging your employer brand
The reality check: 42% of Gen Z are on track for retirement poverty at auto-enrolment minimums
Why 26% would switch jobs tomorrow for a better pension, and what they actually mean by "better"
A 7-step HR playbook to close the gaps without blowing your reward budget

Who Should Read This?

You could be in HR, people, reward, benefits or leadership. This report is for you if you:

Lead people, reward or benefits at a UK company with 25 to 1,000 employees

Want hard data to take into your next benefits committee or board paper

Are losing Gen Z hires faster than you can replace them and want to know why

Need to make a retention case that does not rely on raising base salaries

Want to be the person in the room with a Gen Z strategy, not just an opinion

Penfold Savings Limited. Penfold is a trading name of Penfold Savings Limited, authorised and regulated by the FCA, no. 826097, registered in England and Wales, company no. 11668244, with a registered office at The Ministry, 79-81 Borough Rd, London, SE1 1DN