Pension changes impoverish women
His assertion that if there is social justice in the the forthcoming budget then issues surrounding women and pensions must be addressed echoes what the National Women’s Council of Ireland have been campaigning about for years (including in an op-ed, “Pensions system unfairly penalises women”, in this paper, in March of this year).
Our pension and social security systems are to lift people out of poverty, and older women are among those most at risk. It is a matter of huge concern that the changes to contribution requirements add to, rather than relieve, this situation, and leave a majority of older women with less income and greater vulnerability.
In our comprehensive 2008 report, Pensions: What Women Want, NWCI made a number of practical proposals and recommendations. Among these were a call for the introduction of a homemakers’ credit and a recommendation that the scheme should apply from 1974, and benefit women retiring now.
Other recommendations relate to the averaging of contributions, which has unjustly impacted on women, who may have made more than the number of contributions required for a full pension, but who lose out badly when those contributions are averaged across a longer period that includes years given over to childcare.
These are not just legacy issues. Women are still at a disadvantage in building up contributions. In 2011, 36% of women were in part-time work, often casual or insecure, making it difficult to build up consistent contributions.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
