More than 1.5m UK workers say they cannot afford to save into a pension.

They are the ‘gig’ workers who have non-traditional roles, such as freelancers and unpaid carers and those on zero-hours contracts.

According to new data from retirement specialists PensionBee published today, 57% of the UK’s 2.8m 'temporary economy' workers can’t afford to save into a pension.

The company said it was time for a universal pension system that would ensure every worker, regardless of income level, employment status or hours worked, has automatic access to a pension.

Some 60% of self-employed and freelance workers who are not paying into a pension cited affordability as the key reason, followed closely by commitments as unpaid carers (57%) and those on zero-hours contracts (46%).

Beyond cost, a significant proportion of workers in the gig economy simply do not know how to begin saving into a pension. Nearly one in three (29%) say they would not know where to start or they found pensions too complicated, rising to 32% among unpaid carers.

More than one in three respondents (35%) said they have at some point in their career felt excluded or unsupported by the pension system due to the nature of their work. The sentiment was particularly pronounced among self-employed and gig economy workers, underscoring a systemic mismatch between modern work patterns and pension models, PensionBee said.

Lisa Picardo, chief business officer UK at the firm said: “Too many people working hard outside traditional employment structures are being left behind by the current pension system, and are facing the very real risk of a poor retirement outcome with heavy reliance on the State Pension.

“When more than half of gig workers say they simply can’t afford to save for retirement, this stops being a personal finance issue and becomes a systemic failure.”

She called for a pension system in the UK that “reflects the realities of modern working life and the creation of a universal pension that includes millions of our nation’s invisible workers.

“We need a safety net that catches everyone, especially those who will be most in need in later life. Automatic access to pensions, regardless of income, hours or employment status, is the next logical step towards a fairer future.

“Retirement should not be a luxury. It’s a right earned through a lifetime of contribution - whether through freelance work, self-employment or unpaid care.”

• PensionBee commissioned a nationally representative survey of 1,000 UK adults for its research and based its figure of an estimated 2.8million gig economy workers in Great Britain on a government survey published in 2018.