The results of the annual independent sociological survey, which determined the level of financial literacy of the population in the field of pensions and the degree of public confidence in UAPF JSC, again record high results.
The study was conducted in a mixed type, including a telephone survey and a survey of the urban and rural population of 17 regions of Kazakhstan and 3 cities of republican significance. A total of 3,000 respondents were interviewed: men accounted for 1,456 people or 48.53%, women - 1,544 people (51.47%). The distribution of respondents by social status was as follows: employees 2,076 (69.1%), self-employed - 779 (26%) and unemployed 145 (4.9%).
The main block of the survey questionnaire consisted of 25 questions aimed at identifying the financial literacy of the population of Kazakhstan in the field of pension provision, as well as determining the degree of trust in the pension system of Kazakhstan and the UAPF.
The level of financial literacy in the field of pensions was analyzed at two levels: basic and advanced.
Basic Level.
Kazakhstanis answered most of the questions on the basic level correctly. For example, 1,672 respondents, or 55.73% of the total number of respondents, are aware of both the state basic pension benefit guaranteed to all citizens of Kazakhstan, and the state labor (solidarity) pension, and pension benefits from the UAPF at the expense of the employee’s own pension savings, formed from compulsory pension contributions, compulsory occupational pension contributions, voluntary pension contributions.
The survey showed that the majority of the population (62.3%) is of the opinion that pensions will be the main source of their financial well-being. At the same time, 1,426 respondents or 47.53% believe that these are pension savings in the UAPF, and 14.77% or 443 respondents - a pension from the state. Other savings as a source of income in old age were named by 490 respondents or 16.99% of the total number of respondents.
Most of the respondents - 1,896 people (63.20%) - correctly define the function of UAPF JSC as the accumulation (collection) of compulsory and voluntary pension contributions of contributors, maintaining individual records of pension savings, paying pension benefits from pension savings.
It also turned out from the survey that 1,908 people (63.6%) prefer a personal appeal to the UAPF as a way to obtain information about the state of an individual pension saving account, 1,761 respondents (58.7%) apply to the PSC, through the e-government portal - 1,562 (52.1%), while 1,484 (49.5%) respondents consider it convenient to receive information about pension savings through the BZhZK/UAPF mobile application. This question, however, had several possible answers.
Despite the fact that the responsibility for the future provision of pensions, first of all, rests with the working citizens themselves, part of the population (1,069 respondents or 35.63% of the total number of respondents) is not interested in their own savings, considering this the responsibility of third-party organizations (Governments, UAPF, etc.) or the state as a whole.
899 respondents or 29.97% are interested in the amount of their pension savings once a year or more often, and 1,032 respondents or 34.40% are interested even less often - once every two or three years.
In terms of analyzing the population's awareness of the retirement age for men and women, most of the respondents answered correctly - 2,455 respondents or 81.83%, and 545 respondents or 18.17% still mistakenly believe that the retirement age for women has not changed and is 58 years old.
The overall result of the survey of respondents at the basic level of financial literacy in the field of pensions in 2022 was 77.8%, i.e. higher than in 2021 - 69.9%.
Advanced Level.
An analysis of the answers to the advanced level questions showed that respondents are aware that:
- payment of a single aggregate payment (SAP) is a way of participation in the accumulative pension system of self-employed and informally employed citizens - 2,428 respondents or 80.93%;
- pension savings are the property of the contributor, do not belong to jointly acquired property, can be inherited and cannot be encumbered - 2,282 respondents or 76.07%;
- the size of the state basic pension benefit depends on the regularity of payment of compulsory pension contributions to the UAPF - 2,214 respondents or 73.80%;
- for the payment of pension savings upon reaching retirement age, you need to apply to the Public Service Center - 2,064 or 68.80%.
As a result, the general coefficient of knowledge of the advanced level of awareness of the population about the pension system was 40%.
Confidence Level.
The average indicator of the level of public confidence in the pension system of the Republic of Kazakhstan was formed at the level of 5.80 points out of 10 points, which is slightly higher than last year's figure of 5.79 points.
The rating of trust in the pension system of Kazakhstan among the urban population showed that the urban population trusts it most of all in Akmola (8.61 points), Atyrau (7.50) and Karaganda (7.43) regions, among the rural population a high level of trust was recorded in Mangistau region - 7.37 points.
The level of confidence in the UAPF is slightly, but higher than the aggregate indicator of the level of confidence in the pension system of Kazakhstan - 6.07 points out of 10, which is also higher than last year's indicator of the level of confidence in the UAPF - 5.84 points.
The highest score for the level of trust in the UAPF was recorded in Karaganda (7.73), Mangistau (7.69) and Atyrau regions (7.69 points).
A study of the availability of information about the activities of UAPF JSC showed that most of the respondents find the process of obtaining information easily accessible to everyone (1,660 respondents or 55.33% of the total population surveyed), a small part - 739 respondents or 24.63% consider that it still takes time and effort to obtain information about the UAPF.
Most of the respondents are aware that all the necessary information about the accumulative pension system, their savings and UAPF reporting can be found on the website www.enpf.kz - 2,500 respondents or 83.33% of all respondents.
Taking into account the results of the study, the UAPF will continue further advocacy in the course of implementing strategic objectives to further strengthen confidence in the UAPF and in the pension system as a whole.
The full text of the report on the results of the social survey is available on the UAPF website.
The UAPF was established on August 22, 2013 on the basis of GNPF APF JSC. The UAPF founder and shareholder is the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan represented by the State Institution “Committee of State Property and Privatization” of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan. UAPF pension assets are managed by the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan. From January 1, 2016, the functions for developing proposals to improve the management of pension assets were transferred to the National Fund Management Council. In accordance with the pension legislation, the UAPF attracts compulsory pension contributions, compulsory occupational pension contributions, voluntary pension contributions, pension benefits, individual accounting of pension accumulations and benefits, provides the contributor (beneficiary) with information on the status of his pension accumulations (for more information visit www.enpf.kz)