Department for Work and Pensions – still misleading the public on the huge gap between men and women pensioners
CROSS POSTED ON BYLINE.COM
In May this year Which? Money published the results of access the consumer organisation had to the entire Department for Work and Pension database on pensions. The headline result press released by Which ? Money here was that women are worse off now than men by a staggering £29,000 over a 20 year old period.
The disclosure led Harry Rose, Which? Money editor, to warn : “Our evidence shows how variable people’s state pension payments still are. Many pensioners will be shocked by the differences in average payouts to men and women and those qualifying under the old and new systems.”
The issue is worth raising because just last week the Department of Work and Pensions published its annual report ( more to come in a future blog) which despite Which? Money findings from the DWP’s own database perpetuates the myth that some how today’s pensioners are living the high life with little or no housing costs and longer and longer life expectancy.
The agenda is clear – paving the way in five years time for yet another rise in the pension age – and totally ignoring the present plight of 50s women denied pensions for up to six years . Add the fact that it could take decades now before men and women receive an equal pension. The average , despite the new state pension, is still 18 per cent, below a typical male pension.
The figures revealed by the Which? Money from the DWP are extremely alarming if you are a woman. If you are a man you can be complacent – not only did you get a good deal under the old system you are the main beneficiary of the new one.
The biggest group of beneficiaries (8.4 million) – getting on average £142 a week- are today’s pensioners who have a long national insurance contributions and qualified for an earnings related pension. Of these 4,958,000 are men and 3,417,000 are women.
Above this on an average of £174 a week are the spouses of these recipients who died. and they inherited their spouses NI contributions to top up their pension They are 1,454,040 women and 276,960 men – the only category where women do better. Sadly they have to lose a partner to achieve it.
Much lower at £145 a week are those whose spouses died but they themselves did not have a pension – again most are women – 679,995 to just 2045 men.
Those unfortunate enough not to be entitled to get a pension get just an average of £63 a week based on their partner’s NI contributions – again there are 545,905 women to 1095 men.
The best off are the new state pensioners – after changes came into force in 2016 and they also had protected money to top up the new pension. They get £181 a week. But 79 per cent of these are men – 142,080 to 17,920 women. The reason for this is directly due to the plight of the 50s women who ceased to qualify for pensions at 60 and many are still waiting for one.
As anyone can see this is woefully unfair to women. It suggests there is a long way to go to get equality with men even when women eventually get their pension.
There is also a divide where the money is paid out – highest state pensions – between £153 and £154 a week – are paid out in East Hertfordshire, High Wycombe and Aberdeen. Lowest ( between £128 and £140 a week) – are paid in the London borough of Newham, Leicester, Manchester and Cornwall.
And there are huge differentials if you go abroad. Expatriats living now in Australia, Canada and New Zealand get frozen pensions averaging between £41 and £44 a week.
Those in Europe get pension increases every year – bringing Spain to an average of £107.76 a week and France to £104.39 a week.
Curiously 10 UK nationals who retired to Azerbaijan – part of the old Soviet bloc – get an average of £127 a week.
Don’t ask me why but I did discover this website which tells you how to avoid pension taxes by putting your money into an Azerbajiani off shore fund. According to the article 2400 British expats have done this and they don’t have to live there and participate in traditional Azerri sports such as ox wrestling or javelin throwing either. They can live in Malta and have the money paid into Azerbaijan to avoid tax. My guess is these must be high rollers who qualify for a state pension.
Perhaps the government should investigate this instead.
Westminster Confidential 
Pingback: Whitehall’s shameful database of women’s pathetic state pensions | David Hencke – leftwing nobody
Absolute disgrace how pensioners are treated after most have spent a lifetime paying into the scheme some don’t even make it to retirement age I wonder what happened to all those contributions?. Every pensioner should retire at 60 regardless of sex and make way for the unemployed youngsters who want jobs. The pension should also be the same for everyone and should be at least £200 index linked on a par with the rest of the EU.
Pensions should be the same regardless of which country one retires to, freezing pensions is not only wrong and immoral but tantamount to sentencing pensioners to a life of poverty and sometimes a death sentence.
These politicians who maintain this unjust system are just greedy self interested people with no respect for the older generation. Well it’s time to let these barstewards know what power the older generation has as regards voting power, vote them OUT!!!!!!
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Naturally the DWP wants everyone to pay into a pension then die either before they get it or shortly thereafter, do sacked mps, get voted out is a sacking, have to wait until 67 to get their bloated pensions, get sacked from any other job and try and get a pay out, they can with a bit of crawling get into the lords, nice little earner, sit on a nice leather seat all day, not so good for a woman at 65 working in heavy industry or any labour intensive job, when they are worn out with years of hard and heavy work, and are not able to carry on, then job seekers will send them off to undoable jobs, penalizing them when they can not do it.
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Just read this article from the London Times to improve your understanding of this disgraceful pension practice perpetrated by an intransigent disingenuous UK Government.https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pensions-apartheid-is-keeping-expats-trapped-in-the-past-p5mj2pfjf Visit http://www.pensionjustice.org for further information.
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Well David – what you can find when you begin to lift up thr carpets and sweep into the corners.
As a woman, I find myself speechless-at the double, triple, quadruple whammy we have and are suffering as pensionless women. And I tweeted about the divorce stats in the 14 year period when SPA changes have been acknowledged as if not hidden, very under-publicised – terms of lower settlements on divorce. Well researched!!
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Please put this on FB so that I can share with WASPI International
Thank you
Sylvia Cheal
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here here!!! Hopefully they will REVERSE the decision otherwise BOOT THEM OUT at the next election!!
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Reblogged this on Fear and loathing in Great Britain.
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The government are breaking their own equality laws
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As a woman who is 60 next year, who has worked full time since I left school at 16, I am getting more and more concerned as my health starts to fail. How will I manage to pay my bills but I am a lucky person who does have a company pension – I am more concerned over those women who could not afford to go into a company pension and are now struggling and will be for another 6-7 years until they get the state pension where the pay gap still exists. Let’s keep trying for their sakes
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It’s about the government stopped ignoring these issues. They are a disgrace.
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I think it’s all quite disgusting, i am coming up 64 and started work at 15. Having raised 5 children and worked, and still working now. Lost my partner when he was 54 and looked after my mother for two years with dementia, i have now got to the stage where i have had enough and want some me time. A school friend of mine will lay her partner to rest next week, she had not worked for some years as her partner was some 18years older so she looked after him in his old age. She has already had to sign on the unemployment as she has no income, and put the presure of job hunting on to her, what has happened to the compassion, she should be like so many of us collecting a pension. I think this government and dwp has a lot to answer for. So many people are passing away before retirement i hope i make it.
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After breast cancer I am finding it harder and harder everyday.
Now with serve bone an back problems o would love to be able to draw my pension o started paying into the system at 15 and haLG year old.
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Absolutely disgusting. Thank you for highlighting the facts. I guess we all have a choice at the next general election but frankly although I’ve always voted, they are all as bad as each other. Lies, broken promises and duplicity.
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The way 50’s pension women have been betrayed is absolutely disgraceful. There is no doubt about it our pension money has been blatantly stolen from us by a greedy Government who couldn’t do its sums. I’d like to slap someone’s face over this because that’s what you have done to us, you’ve slapped us in the face and kicked us to the ground. I read every day that that Government is giving out money here sending millions there, hey you lot! How about giving us what you owe and give back what you have stolen, you thieves.
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