Making membership of occupational pension schemes automatic is seen as a way of boosting pension coverage. Having to opt out, rather than opt in, is an efficient way of getting people to save more.

But the US experience of auto-enrolment suggests it is not a panacea. For one thing, while the assets seem relatively stable (fewer than 10 per cent of automatically enrolled employees opt out), automatic enrolment is only one step in preparing them for retirement. For another, millions of minuscule individual accounts require hefty systems and support from service providers. Without promise of significant asset growth, such low-balance accounts put pressure on plan providers’ profit margins, and make servicing retirement plans an unattractive proposition.