Just 51 per cent of people are setting aside enough to provide an adequate income. One in five is not saving anything while some 14 per cent are seriously under-saving and 17 per cent are not saving enough, life insurer Scottish Widows reported.

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Chris Grayling said: “The problem is that over the past 10 years Gordon Brown and his Government have seriously damaged confidence in our pensions system.

“It is really important that people do save more but under this Government they are no longer convinced they are going to benefit.” The YouGov survey for Scottish Widows focused on people aged 30 and over and earning at least £10,000 a year.

It found that although there had been a slight increase – two per cent – since last year in the numbers  saving enough, this was likely to have been caused by short-term savings.