Justice in Women’s Pensions
Lib Dem MPs present
a women's pensions petition at 10 Downing St June 2003 Millions
of married women are reaching retirement to discover that they will
receive little or no state pension, despite having paid £8billion in
National Insurance contributions. All have, in the past, paid
National Insurance Contributions (NICs) at the married women’s reduced
rate, which disqualified them from building up entitlement to a state
pension. Although many made an
informed choice to pay this rate, over 1,000 have written to tell me
that the implications of their decision were never explained to them.
These may be the tip of an iceberg. They are shocked to discover on the
eve of their retirement that their pension entitlement may be as little
as 1p per week. Like all married women they will get a 60%
pension on their husband’s contributions when he reaches 65.
But many are older than their
husbands, and may have to wait years before receiving it.
To
compound the problem, opting for the reduced stamp was not just a
one-off decision. Women could begin paying the full rate at any time.
Pension system changes over the years indicate that many would have been
wise to do this, but ignorance of the system and lack of Government
information means that they did not. More
than 4.5 million women have paid over £8 billion in NICs since 1975, in
return for no more pension rights than if they had never worked.
1.5 million are still of working age and I am calling on the
Government both to write and alert them that they may be heading for a
small pension, and to conduct an independent inquiry into the issue. The Government has agreed to
look into circumstances where women have clear evidence that they did
not receive accurate advice, and I am happy to hear from any of my
constituents who would like me to pursue their case for them. The
Support Women Against Pension Poverty network is also campaigning on
this issue, and more than 180 MPs of all parties have signed an Early
Day Motion (a Parliamentary petition) supporting their work.
For more information, see
www.swapp.org.uk |
