Age Concern and Fawcett campaign for better pension systems for women |
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Sat, 23 Apr 2005 01:00
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Two British charities are campaigning for a fairer system of pension for women. In a Blueprint for Reform released by Age Concern and Fawcett, some clear rules have been set for the next government to follow.
These charities work towards bringing equality between men and women. The report stresses that since women take time off to bring up children; the current pension system does not take into account these problems and hence ends up being discriminatory towards women.
| The report also says that women earn 82p for every £1 earned by a man. And most companies exclude women from their pension schemes due to a gap in payment scales between the sexes. The study says that only 16% of the newly retired women can depend on full pensions as compared to 78% men. The report further stresses that one in five single women pensioners’ lives in poverty.
The charities are advocating a universal pension system that includes a provision of credit for career women or for those on low incomes. Also they feel that women should be entitled to build up their own pensions rather than tying their pensions to a husband or family. The report also says that the government should seriously consider having "a second state pension for all" and that this should include people who are not covered by a private pension. Further provisions should be made so that these can be seen as "benefiting the poorest the most".
The charities also said that they would press for raising the basic pension to £109 a week from the current £82.05.
Michelle Mitchell, head of public affairs at Age Concern, said, "The major political parties recognize that there is a scandal around women and pensions. But we need action and not words. Many women are angry that the system fails to give them a decent income and it is an issue that is likely to affect their votes on polling day."
Dr Katherine Rake, director of Fawcett agreed, "Women tend to receive lower pensions because they earn less than men during their lifetimes. Increasing the pension age will not change this and will do nothing to reduce the number of pensioner women living in poverty."
The charities commended the government for easing poverty amongst women pensioners with the introduction of pension credit. This scheme has to date got 1.8m pensioners out of poverty.
But there are some shortcomings here as well, some women just do not know that they are entitled to extra benefits and end up receiving less that what they should be getting. Surely, its food for thought for whichever government comes to power post May 5.
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