Women and
Pensions
by Equal Opportunities Commission
A summary of how women are penalised by the pensions system because
of the unpaid parenting and caring that is still mainly undertaken
by women throughout their lifetimes.
If we get
it right for women, we?ll get
it right for everyone
Women?s
pensions entitlement is lower than men?s?
-
Women?s median income in retirement is just
57% of men?s.
-
Only 16% of recently retired women are
entitled to a full basic state pension in their own right.
-
One in five single women pensioners face
poverty in retirement.
because
women are more likely to undertake unpaid parenting and caring commitments
throughout their lives?
-
Of mothers of under-fives, 52% were in
employment, and two-thirds of those working as employees
were part-time.
-
In 2001, unpaid adult care was carried out by
5.7 million people in Great Britain. 11% of men and 14% of women
aged 16 or over provided care.
-
Nearly one in 20 adults are spending 20 or
more hours per week on caring tasks. 61% of these are
women.
-
A quarter of all women aged between 45 and 64
are carers, with a quarter of those also caring for
children.
with
periods out of paid employment and periods in part time, often low paid
employment?
-
Two-fifths of women in employment in Britain
work part-time, compared with only 11% of men.
-
78% of all part-time workers are women.
-
Women working part-time earn 40% less per
hour than men working full-time about the same as 30 years
ago and tend to work in a small number of low-paid sectors where
part-time working is
common.
State
provision does not fully recognise and reward this contribution?
Home
Responsibilities Protection (HRP) for parents and credits for carers
give only limited and inflexible recognition
of parenting and caring contributions, no longer reflecting the
realities of people?s lives. Many people slip
through the net.
-
HRP coverage is only available for complete
tax years.
-
Only carers providing at least 35 hours a
week care recognised
for state pensions.
-
Those with less than 25% of the number of
National Insurance
Contribution years required for a full state pension,
receive no state pension at all.
-
Earnings from multiple jobs are not added
together for National
Insurance purposes, excluding those undertaking
multiple low-paid jobs.
and
private provision is linked to paid employment?
-
The percentage of mothers making additional
private pension provision never rises above 40%, regardless
of age of child.
-
88% of lone mothers with a child under-five
have no additional private pension provision, and the proportion
never gets much above 30% for any lone mothers, regardless of age of
child.
-
The lowest-skilled (who are likely to take
longer breaks from paid employment) can lose 40-80% of their
pension entitlement if they have children.
Without all
this unpaid labour the adult care costs would fall on the state.
Family and
partnership patterns are changing making independent
provision
essential for all?
-
By 2020, it is estimated that there will be
almost as many divorced women between age 65 and 75
-
as widows
about one in five women will enter later life divorced.
-
The number of cohabiting couples estimated to
be 1.56 million in 1996 is projected to almost double over
the next 25 years.
-
Almost two-thirds of divorced and separated
older women (63 per cent) have no private pension income at
all.
Working
patterns are becoming more diverse, with more men undertaking
caring responsibilities, working part time therefore?
if we get
it right for women, we?ll get it right for everyone.
The EOC is
building a consensus calling for a pensions system that:
-
independence
and equality at its heart - everyone should accrue a pension in
their own right
-
ensures women?s entitlement
to the basic state pension
-
properly recognises unpaid
caring work
-
achieves certainty and
simplicity in the state pension to ensure stability, simplification
and
transparency
in the pensions system as a whole, encouraging saving and planning
for retirement
-
closes the pensions gap
between women and men in state, private and occupational pensions
-
works for current and future
generations of women pensioners
-
meets the needs of all
women and particularly addresses the lack of representation in
the state
pension for BME
women.
What can you
do?
Equal
Opportunities Commission Helpline 0845 601 5901
(Calls
charged at local rates)
Interpreting
service available to callers of the Helpline Typetalk
service available on 18001 0845 601 5901
Arndale
House, Arndale Centre, Manchester, M4 3EQ
To find out
more about
Equal Opportunities Commission
visit
www.eoc.org.uk
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Women and Pensions
