Women’s Pension Crisis Highlights Dangers To Savers
– International Women’s Day highlights the underreported UK Women’s pension crisis
– 2.66 million affected by UK government’s change to state pension act
– Women’s pension crisis is one of many in the UK, where there is a £710bn deficit for prospective retirees
– Changes by government highlights the counterparty risks pensions are exposed to
– Global problem as pensions gap of developed countries growing by $28B per day
– Savers and investors should look to invest in gold as part of their pensions
Imagine contributing to a pension throughout your working life only to be told that you won’t receive it when you expect to. When you receive this information it comes with just a few years’ notice. There is little time to make alternative pension arrangements. You have a choice: either continue to work until your pension comes in, or live on very little in the meantime.
This is a reality over 2.6 million women in the UK currently face. Those born in the 1950s have been told by the British government that their retirement ages have been increased from 60 to 65 years of age. This change means they will not receive their state pensions when they originally expected to. This is part of a move to bring men and women’s retirements to the same level.
Put that way, this looks to be a good move. Particularly when one considers the demands for women to be treated equally to men. But when a change is made in this way it is about anything but equality.
The decision by the UK government to delay paying pensions to women of a certain birthdate has resulted in one of the biggest pension crises in the UK, yet it is the least reported and discussed.
Pensions crises is something the country is rapidly getting used to. As well as the 2.6 million women affected by the UK’s Pensions Act there are the many thousands of men and women affected by private pension disasters that amount to over £710bn in deficits.
Each of these issues highlight the high exposure pensions have to counterparty risk. Millions of individuals believe they have safely contributed to a retirement pot only for the government to tell them they have to wait even longer for it or that the company they trusted to support their pension has gone bust.
UK’s pension inequality is economic inequality
Yesterday it was International Women’s Day (IWD) and on Sunday many of us around the world will be celebrating Mother’s Day. Both days are there to recognise the achievements and sacrifices of women. IWD is also there to raise attention to the plights of billions of women across the globe. Many are disadvantaged through economic, political, sexual and other means. Campaigns run throughout the year to help them but IWD is a day to really bring the spotlight to them.
Few in the West realise that IWD has an important place in the UK. We still have major problems with sex trafficking, domestic abuse and discrimination against minorities.
One of the least reported areas in the economic discrimination of women. I’m not talking about gender pay gap, the lack of female CEOs or maternity leave. In this specific instance I’m talking about the female pension crisis that has left over a two million women in a huge financial limbo.
Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) explain how this has happened:
The 1995 Conservative Government’s Pension Act included plans to increase women’s SPA (State Pension Age) to 65, the same as men’s. WASPI agrees with equalisation, but does not agree with the unfair way the changes were implemented – with little or no personal notice (1995/2011 Pension Acts), faster than promised (2011 Pension Act), and no time to make alternative plans. Retirement plans have been shattered with devastating consequences.
WASPI has been campaigning for a long-time to have the changes brought in in a more economically viable manner, so that women can afford their retirements or at least have time to make alternative arrangements. They estimate those suffering as a result of the changes could be higher than the 2.6 million reported by the UK government.
In early February 2018 the government rejected WASPI’s proposals for a fairer transition period, claiming it would “represent a loss of over £70bn to the public purse.” This was a burden pensions