Precarious employment and pension planning

曼彻斯特大学和Nest之间的这项合作研究了不稳定工人的养老金计划，为这一日益增长的人口群体如何管理日益私有化和个性化的养老金制度提供了新的、迫切需要的社会学见解。在英国，私人和工作场所的养老金历来是由工会部门的大雇主提供的。然而，政府最近在2012-2018年期间进行的改革强制要求几乎所有员工都必须提供工作场所养老金。尽管这一领域出现了一个新的市场，但任何希望使用该计划的雇主都可以使用一个全国性的计划--NEST。Nest是一个基于信托的计划，目前拥有超过700万成员，预计在某个时候将有超过1500万英国员工成为Nest的成员。NEST员工的年收入中位数仅为18,500 GB，远低于全国平均水平。Nest和这些新的低收入养老金市场中的许多其他主要提供商已经确定了设计良好、强有力的深入定性研究的必要性，以帮助他们了解其庞大客户基础面临的挑战、好处和陷阱。如果新的私有化养老金制度失败，将使数百万人在以后的生活中陷入贫困，因此，设计对所有社会群体都有效的制度已成为社会正义和社会凝聚力的问题，对提供者来说也具有商业重要性。这项拟议中的研究将通过提出以下问题来调查不稳定的工人如何管理他们的长期经济不安全：不稳定的低收入工人如何以不同的形式概念化金钱？人们是否在这些货币形式之间进行了任何形式的心理核算，特别是债务与储蓄？阶级、社会经济地位、职业技能水平和教育水平在影响不稳定工人的财务决策方面扮演着什么角色？当前的就业特征，如工作、薪酬或行业，如何影响财务决策和养老金计划？临时就业和住房等其他不安全因素有多重要？个人特征如何与工作场所、建议、家庭和伙伴关系相互作用，影响财务决策和养老金计划？那些就业不稳定的人如何理解政府、雇主、财务顾问、他们自己及其家人和朋友在影响他们自己的财务和养老金决定方面各自扮演的角色？那些处于不稳定工作中的人如何将对可能的养老金的思考嵌入到自己的人生历程叙事和身份认同中。为了回答这些问题，我们计划对大曼彻斯特地区50-60名不稳定的员工进行半结构化采访，这些员工在就业和个体户/零工经济领域运营。我们的目标是采访年收入12-20,000 GB的人，他们大多在30岁到45岁之间。将使用叙述性解释框架并借鉴文化老年学的理论方法，包括关键的生活过程和性别观点，对数据进行转录、编码和分析。这一合作将提供对金融服务业在理解该领域行为方面的需求的洞察，否则无法实现这一领域的行为，从而提供一个独特的机会，影响潜在弱势群体长期财务结果的改善。合作是预期的合作将提供对金融服务业的需求的洞察，以了解这一领域的行为，否则无法实现，从而提供一个独特的机会，影响改善潜在的弱势群体的长期财务结果。该合作预计将把学生与众多利益相关者和网络联系人联系起来，推动他们的职业生涯向前发展。

This collaborative studentship between the University of Manchester and NEST investigates the pension planning of precarious workers, providing new and urgently required sociological insights into how this growing segment of the population is managing an increasingly privatised and individualised pension system. Private and workplace pensions have historically been provided in the UK by large employers in unionised sectors. However recent government reforms over the period 2012 - 2018 have made provision of workplace pensions compulsory for almost all employees. Although a new market has grown in this sector, a national scheme - NEST - is available to any employer wishing to use it. NEST is a trust-based scheme which now has over 7 million members, and it is anticipated that more than 15 million UK employees will be members of NEST at some point. Median earnings for NEST employees are just £18,500 per annum well below the national average. NEST and many other major providers in these new lower income pension markets have identified the need for well-designed, robust, in-depth qualitative research that helps them understand the challenges, benefits and pitfalls for their substantial customer base. If the new privatised pension system fails, this will leave millions in poverty in later life, and so designing systems that will work optimally for all social groups has become a matter of social justice and social cohesion, as well as being commercially important for providers.This proposed study will investigate how precarious workers manage their economic insecurity in the long term through asking the following questions: How do precarious workers on low pay conceptualise money in its different forms? Do people undertake any form of mental accounting as between these forms of money, especially debt versus saving? What is the role of class, socio-economic status, occupational skill level, and education level in influencing financial decision making for precarious workers? How do current employment characteristics such as work, pay or sector, influence financial decision making and pension planning? How important are transitory employment and other insecurities such as housing, as factors? How do individual characteristics interact with workplace, advice, family and partnership contexts to influence financial decision making and pension planning? How do those in precarious employment understand the respective roles of government, employer, financial advisers, themselves and their family and friends in influencing their own financial and pension decisions? How do those in precarious employment embed thinking about their possible pensions into their own life course narratives and identities. To answer these questions, we aim to conduct semi-structured interviews with 50 - 60 precarious workers in Greater Manchester (GM) operating across the employed and self-employed/gig economy realms. We will aim to interview people earning £12-£20,000 per year, and mostly between the ages of 30 and 45. Data will be transcribed, coded and analysed using a narrative interpretive framework and drawing on theoretical approaches from cultural gerontology including critical lifecourse and gender perspectives. The collaboration will provide insights into the financial services industry's needs for understanding behaviour in this realm that could not be achieved otherwise, giving a unique chance to influence the improvement of long-term financial outcomes for potentially vulnerable groups of people. The collaboration is expecteThe collaboration will provide insights into the financial services industry's needs for understanding behaviour in this realm that could not be achieved otherwise, giving a unique chance to influence the improvement of long-term financial outcomes for potentially vulnerable groups of people. The collaboration is expected to connect the student with numerous stakeholders and networking contacts to take forward in their career.