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- Today's leader
Letter: The unfairness of the pension system
Thursday 28th April 2011, 6:02AM BST.
Letter: There have been various letters written and information given out about state pensions and how they will be paid.
I do not believe most of the general public, especially those who are nearing state pension age, really understand or appreciate how unjust the system is now and how still more unjust it is going to be from 2015.
Firstly, until April 2010 the qualifying periods for state pensions were based on 49 years’ work for men and 44 years for women — and, of course, paying the correct level of National Insurance contributions.
If you did not have the full qualifying years you got a proportion of the full entitlement.
In April 2010 the rules changed so that you only need to have done 30 years’ work to qualify for a full state pension. The irony of this is that when I get to retirement this year I will get the full pension of what is in the 2011/2012 tax year £102 per week, based only on 30 qualifying years, even though I gave 49 years’ service over my lifetime.
My wife, who retired four years ago and was on the system where she needed 44 qualifying years to get the full pension, had only built up 38 years and gets about £85 per week. Neither she nor anybody else suddenly jumps to this year’s £102 per week.
From 2015 it gets worse. The coalition Government has already announced that from then pensions will be £155 per week. But do not think that if you have retired before then you will be getting the £155 per week as it only applies to those who retire from 2015.
E Humphreys
Shrewsbury
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This unfairness is not a new thing. when we were married in 1961 my wife opted out of paying full NIC as we intended to have a family, in 1978 the rules were changed and a credit was given to a mother with children for each year until the last one`s education ceased so we thought great she will get almost a full retirement pension when she reaches 60. however, the small print said that she had to cancel the 1961 option before claiming the credit and that there was no credit for years prior to the year of cancellation even though she had not been working full time and gained no advantage from the option she had chosen. I was in Government service in 1978 and thought I knew all about pensions but even then this one slipped past me with the net effect that she has lost thousands of pounds since retiring.
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Ref last para – is it not the case that only those ELIGIBLE to retire after 2015 will get the £155 per week. This is an important point because, if I understand it correctly, anyone who is eligible to retire pre 2015 but opts to defer their pension until after that date will NOT get the extra amount.
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@ Expat …. your comments about unfairness is well taken but you fail to mention the mean spirited British Government and their unbelievable unfairness when it comes to giving British Expats their earned Pension Entitlements who opted to live in Commonwealth Countries and denying them indexing! … the hardship this causes is an outrage! … many of these recipients wore this Countries Battledress in time of conflict! ……….
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The full £155 pension should be paid to all who currently qualify for a full pension. Anything less is simply not fair. We should all be writing constantly to our MP’s to have this nonsense corrected.
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