The South East's baby boomers will start to retire within three years with more than half relying on state pension for an income.

That is the warning from the GMB union, which has studied the population born between 1945 to 1954. It says there are 1,078,927 living in the South-East and 500,000 of them are facing poverty.

It says West Sussex has 102,368 baby boomers, East Sussex 67,705 and Brighton and Hove 28,185. These are among the highest figures in the UK.

The union says 41 per cent of pensioners do not have an occupational pension income and half are not covered by an occupational pension scheme.

Kevin Curran, GMB general secretary, said: "As the baby boomers begin to retire, the pensions' crisis will get worse. Without access to occupational schemes, half a million workers in the South-East are to join the millions of people already living in pensioner poverty.

"Companies need to accept their part of the pension responsibility."

Wednesday December 10, 2003