Workers forced to save for retirement Workers are allowed to opt out of schemes after they have been enrolled, but the Government wants employers to re-enrol people who have opted out every three years, to try to persuade them to save. Fears have been raised of a looming pension-saving crisis amid declining rates of participation in schemes in recent years. By 2020 half of the UK population will be aged 50 or over. Dr Nigel Keohane, SMF deputy director and author of the report, titled Jam Tomorrow?, said the state will need to "nudge, prod and regulate" people into managing their personal income and wealth. He said: "That means considering policies like compulsory pensions saving, low-risk pension products and income-contingent loans for childcare." Steve Gay, director of life, savings and protection at the Association of British Insurers (ABI), said the report raised some "interesting ideas" about how to engage people in saving. He said: "Closing the UK's savings gap is one of the biggest challenges facing our society ... We need to think of innovative ideas that will help people to save for the future. Auto-enrolment is the single biggest pension reform in the last 60 years and will bring over 10 million people into the savings habit. Insurers have a crucial role to play to meet this challenge and the industry continues to work with Government to improve consumer confidence in pensions and to help people save for their retirement. A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said: "We want to get as many people as we can saving for their retirement but we also recognise the need for people to choose. For millions of people, automatic enrolment means they will be saving into a workplace pension for the first time. However, people have been given the ability to opt out if they feel at a particular time in their life that saving into a pension is not right for them.