Less than a quarter of self-employed men are saving money for retirement into a personal pension, official figures show.

Pension data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that just 22% of self-employed men put money into a personal pension in 2012/13. This compares to 62% in 1996/97 and 37% in 2005/06.

Statistical data reveals that in January-March 2013:

• there were 4.2 million self-employed workers aged 16 and over
• 58% were male full-time workers; 12% were men working part-time
• 14% were women working full-time; 16% were female part-time workers.

In July 2014, the Pensions Policy Institute warned that self-employed people are at risk of not saving enough for retirement.

The report said:

“The take up of private pension saving by self-employed people has declined over the last decade and in 2011 only 34% of self-employed people were active members of a pension.

“Unless a significant proportion of self-employed people choose to a join a pension scheme, pension savings may remain low along this group even after automatic enrolment.”