ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the different forms that labour market flexibility can take, the implications of each of them for the accumulation of pension rights, the true extent of labour market flexibility in the UK and its relationship to trends in forms of activity other than paid work. It draws evidence from existing studies and from original analysis of one of the UK's nationally representative household surveys. The chapter discusses the merits of alternative routes to pension provision in the light of this evidence. It presents a brief overview of pensions in the UK and discusses labour market trends and policy responses. The chapter also considers how greater labour flexibility interacts with the accumulation of pension rights. Possibilities for a citizen's pension for the UK have recently been examined and this work suggests that it is not prohibitive in terms of cost as long as the costs are spread across all citizens including pensioners.
