Women 'retiring in poverty'

from This Is Money

Becky Barrow, Daily Mail

Women who have devoted their lives to caring for their children or elderly relatives are being forced to retire in poverty, according to a report today.

It claims the Government's refusal to pay a decent pension means a quarter of single women struggle to feed themselves, heat their homes and pay their bills once they retire.

The problem is creating a 'forgotten generation' of women, says the study by Age Concern. The charity interviewed 600 female pensioners over the age of 60. One in five said they found it 'really difficult' to manage while half said they manage only because they are constantly having to be 'careful'.

Speaking anonymously, one said: 'I feel I am being penalised for staying at home with my children.' Another claimed: 'Women are second-class citizens where pension rights are concerned.'

Gordon Lishman, Age Concern's director general, said: 'Older women are in danger of becoming a forgotten generation, caught up in a system that penalises them for taking time out to care for their children.'

Most of the women said they have had to keep working after the retirement age of 60 to make ends meet. Nearly 800,000 are now working beyond 60, an increase of about 275,000 since records began in 1992.

Neil Duncan-Jordan from the National Pensioners Convention said: 'The poorest pensioners in Britain today are single women over the age of 65. The only way that we can address their plight is to recognise their contribution in raising their families, and pay them a decent pension.'

The full basic state pension is currently £84.25 per week. Last month, a former Government pensions adviser warned that it is so low that eight out of ten workers face a retirement in poverty. Dr Ros Altmann said they 'will simply not have enough money to live on at anything like a decent level'.

Dr Altmann, who spent six years advising the Treasury and Number 10, estimated a pensioner needs at least £130 a week for a 'decent' retirement to cover eating, heating and other everyday costs.

However, the Government plans to reform the rules on pensions over the next five years. From 2010, women will be entitled to a full state pension after 30 years, rather than 39 years at present. And from 2012, the pension, which has recently been voted the meanest in Europe, will rise more generously each year than it does today.

Only one woman in four is currently entitled to a full state pension but Labour claims this will rise to 70% by 2010.

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: 'We recognise that the pension system has historically been unfair to women. One of our primary aims in the reforms proposed in the Pensions Bill is to address this inequality as quickly as we can.'