Millions 'sleepwalking' into retirement as workplace pension numbers hit all-time low Pensions are seen as a discretionary spend but millions are sleepwalking into retirement only to find they haven't saved enough. Final-salary schemes - which guarantee workers a yearly sum based on length of service - have long been in decline in the UK as they have become too expensive to fund. However, Mr McPhail said it was a "real worry" that the number of workers in "defined contribution" schemes was falling too - from 9pc in 1997 to just 6pc last year. Overall, employee membership of workplace pension schemes in the private sector fell from 46pc to 32pc over the period, the figures showed. Men were worst affected, with membership falling from 52pc in 1997 to 37pc last year. Female membership fell by 11pc, to 26pc, over the period. The UK is already facing a pensions demographic "time bomb" as workers live longer and the retirement deficit swells, with the latest ONS figures likely to heap further pressure on the Government to implement radical measures to tackle the issue. The black hole in British companies" final salary schemes ballooned to a record £312bn last month as stock market turmoil and the Bank of England's policy of printing money increased deficits, according to figures from the Pension Protection Fund. From October this year, new regulations introduced by the Coalition will force all employers to offer workers a pension scheme, under so-called "auto-enrolment," in attempt to get an extra 10m people saving for retirement. But experts say the contribution levels required from businesses and workers - at a combined 8pc of a worker's salary - are too low to tackle the issue properly, raising the prospect that businesses may have to contribute more to run schemes.