Results from the 2022 Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey (AFCAS) are now available.
Highlights:
- Following increases in 2021, many results have returned to 2020 levels
- Satisfaction with pension benefits has improved for the second year in a row
Pensions: the report states
“Satisfaction with pension benefits has increased this year to 43%. This is three percentage points higher than last year, and 14 percentage points higher than in 2020. In recent years, attitudes towards pension benefits may have been influenced, in part, by events following the McCloud judgement. Satisfaction levels amongst Royal Navy, Army and RAF personnel are fairly similar, with Royal Marines personnel the least satisfied with their pension benefits at 34%.“
Our Comments:
This is good news, in part. The last time there was such a positive trend was back in 2012, but 43% satisfaction does mean that more than half of those who responded are either ‘neutral’ or ‘dissatisfied’ with their pension benefits, and the graph at Section 5 shows the commissioned/non-commissioned divide which remains notable.
This all underscores the importance for all serving personnel to really understand the benefits and complexities of their Armed Forces Pension and AFPS 15 in particular so they can make fully informed decisions going forward.
