Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index, for what reasons pensioners in countries such as the Netherlands receive a 50 per cent higher income in retirement than their British counterparts.

Although international comparisons are insightful it is difficult to draw a direct parallel due to different historical impacts and systems.

The Government has and is continuing to work hard to ensure financial security in later life.

The UK system is based on a foundation income from the State in the form of the new State Pension, with provision above that from private saving, facilitated by auto-enrolment and pensions flexibilities. Thanks to triple lock, in April 2017, the basic state pension was over £1200 a year higher than it was in April 2010. The government is committed to the triple lock for the remainder of this parliament. The basic state pension it is now at one of its highest rates relative to earnings for over two decades, reversing a trend of decline we saw between 1997 and 2010.

Recent reforms to private pensions including the introduction of Automatic Enrolment are also helping to improve retirement outcomes for future generations.