News story

17th September 2002

Thousands Of Wronged Women Pensioners Are Not Lying

Steve Webb MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, has criticised the Government for accusing thousands of women of lying over their ‘married women’ pension rights.

Patricia Hewitt MP, the Minister for Women, yesterday claimed that millions of married women who chose to pay reduced national insurance contributions knew that they would receive little or no pension in return. Ms Hewitt stated that information issued to women about their choices at the time was “crystal clear”.

However, former Pensions Minister Jeff Rooker previously admitted to Mr Webb in a Parliamentary debate that the DSS forms explaining the consequences of paying the married woman’s stamp were “not brilliantly clear” and “would not pass the plain English test”.

Steve Webb MP, said:

“The Government’s attitude is both complacent and offensive. Patricia Hewitt implies that the thousands of women up and down the land who are saying they were not told about the implications of paying this stamp are lying.

“I have personally received several hundred letters from married women all stating the same thing; that they were given bad advice, or no advice at all, by their employers or by the DSS.

“Now Ministers are contradicting each other over the advice that was given. The Government needs to get its act together.

“Instead of fobbing women off, the Minister for Women should listen to what they are saying. The Government must launch an immediate enquiry into this miss-selling of pensions.”

ENDS


Notes to editors:

· Letters received by Steve Webb have included comments such as:

“At no time did I elect to pay reduced rate”;

“(We were) informed by the DSS office … that, regardless of the stamp amount paid… our pensions would not be affected.”;

“Thousands of women like myself…did not fully understand the implications of being on a reduced NI stamp until it was too late.”

· House of Commons library figures based on a parliamentary written answer received by Steve Webb MP reveal that the current value of ‘married women’s rate’ National Insurance contributions stands at £8.232 billion.

NOTE: the figures are based only on post – 1975 calculations. The actual figure is much higher, but the Department cannot provide pre-1975 figures.

· At its peak 4.5 million women were paying the married women’s rate. The Government Actuaries Department (GAD) estimates that 1.5 million of these women are still of working age.

· Former Pensions Minister Jeff Rooker made his comments in a Parliamentary debate on 23 May 2000, Official Report column 187WH.

· The May 2002 Pension Service leaflet, ‘Pensions for women – Your guide’ explains how the system works:

"Until 1977, if you were a married woman you could choose to pay a lower rate of National Insurance contributions. If you choose to do this and you have not paid full-rate contributions, you will not have built up any basic Retirement Pension on your own insurance and you must rely instead on your husband's contribution record.

"Although this choice stopped in 1977, if you were a married woman who had already chosen to pay the lower rate, you have been allowed to carry on paying at the lower rate. You may be able to get a pension based on your husband's contributions when you both reach state pension age and make a claim."

· Steve Webb MP has received several hundred letters from women stating that they were not making an informed choice when they paid the married women’s rate, but rather were told that once married this was the ‘done thing’. Many did not appreciate that they would not get gain any state pension rights by paying the reduced rate. One such woman is Mrs. Watts of Weymouth who is happy to talk about her situation. She has set up a national network of women who have found themselves in similar situations. Support Women Against Pensions Poverty (SWAPP) was launched in May 2002.