The target market for the new National Employment Saving Trust is predicted to save, on average, just 2.5 per cent of salary into a plan.

The findings were revealed in the seventh Scottish Widows UK Pensions Report which questioned 5,200 people.

This figure is significantly less than the four per cent minimum which Nest says employees will need to contribute.

The key target market for Nest is moderate earners, those earning between £10,001 and £30,00  per annum and working for a small company. Some 53 per cent of this age were over 45 and 16 per cent were over 60.

Only 10 per cent of people in this category said they already had a defined benefit or contribution pension through their current employer. They also expected to be working until the age of 67.

Almost half of people in this category said they would remain enrolled into Nest, however the average contribution they expected to make was only £31.70 per month.

Scottish Widows says consumers need to be educated on the level of contributions required to avoid possible withdrawals from the scheme when they see amounts being deducted from their pay.

Ian Naismith, head of pensions market development at Scottish Widows, said: “It has been a busy year in the pensions industry as our government and regulators continue in their efforts to implement change in a nation which appears ambivalent, if not indifferent, to the concept of preparing for a financially secure retirement.

“The future financial health of an aging population is currently heavily dependent on the success of automatic enrolment as well as the ability of individuals to recognise that they should be doing more to provide for themselves.”