Campaigns

THE CRISIS IN PENSIONS

I recently spoke in the House of Commons about the crisis in the pensions system.  I said that state pensions were much too low and very unfair to women.  I pointed out that 32 per cent of women have no pension and almost 4 million have less than a full pension.

I personally believe that the link to earnings should be restored for pensioners. Having to live on means-tested benefits is demanding for pensioners and in fact 1.7 million people who are entitled to pension credit do not claim it, partly because of the level of intrusion that they feel it involves.  I believe that the solution is to increase pensions to a living wage without any means-testing and to pay for that by increasing the retirement age.

With regard to public sector schemes, I pointed out in my speech that many of them are totally unfunded.  As such we are mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren.  That is not a responsible way to go forward.  Although we have schemes where there is no contribution or only a very small contribution, that is not a direction in which we can go in the long term.  We need known levels of funding from the Exchequer and reasonable levels of funding from those participating in the schemes.  That cannot happen overnight because people have contracts of employment; it will only happen in the future, after there has been change to the basis and structure of public sector schemes but I think that it can be done.

I went on to point out that for Members of Parliament the earlier retirement age ends in 2009 whereas for the rest of the public sector Parliament had suggested that it did so in 2013 and I said that I hoped that MPs had set an example that would be followed.