N e w s f r o m C a t a l y s t
1 7 J u l y 2 0 0 3
Included in this mailing:
1. BETTER PENSIONS - new report from Barbara Castle's advisers
----------------------------------------------------------
1.
BETTER PENSIONS - THE STATE'S RESPONSIBILITY
By Bryn Davies, Hilary Land, Tony Lynes, Ken MacIntyre, and Peter Townsend
"A leftwing thinktank today added its voice to the growing dissent over
the decline of the state pension, warning that the current shift towards
private pension provision will increase the numbers of people spending their
retirement in poverty."
- The Guardian
This week Catalyst publishes a powerful new pamphlet on pensions authored by
the group of advisers assembled by the late Barbara Castle, former Labour
cabinet minister and campaigner for pensioners' rights. "Better Pensions -
the state's responsibility" adds to an emerging consensus that the
government has failed to develop an adequate policy package to deal with the
developing crisis in UK pension provision.
According to the report:
* 2.2 million pensioners, 22 per cent of all pensioners in Britain, now
live below the poverty line
* the Minimum Income Guarantee fails to reach between one-quarter and
one-third of those entitled to it and a similar shortfall is already
anticipated for the new Pension Credit
* current policies are set to offer average earners retiring in 2050 an
income equivalent to around £100 per week in today's terms - below the level
at which means-tested income support is currently payable
The government has been seeking to replace state pension provision with
privately funded schemes, with means-tested support for those who fail to
build up sufficient entitlements. It has declared an aim of reversing the
current balance of pension provision from 60 per cent public/40 per cent
private to 40 per cent public/60 per cent private, and state spending on
pensions in the UK is projected to remain at 5 per cent of GDP, less than
half the European average and despite an ageing population.
But the authors argue that the effect of the state's withdrawal from pension
provision will be to abandon increasing numbers to retirement in poverty.
Personal and occupational pensions are simply too unreliable to take the
place of public provision, as employer withdrawal from "Final Salary"
schemes and disappointing take-up of "Stakeholder" money-purchase schemes
confirm, and will in any case will always be inaccessible to women with
caring responsibilities and increasing numbers of temporary, part-time and
low-paid workers. Meanwhile the means-tested "safety-net" fails to catch the
most vulnerable pensioners, and is widely acknowledged to be
administratively inefficient, socially divisive and a disincentive to
private saving.
The authors do not deny a role for private schemes but argue that this
should be as a complement to, not a substitute for, adequate state
provision. They call for a new "public-private partnership" in pensions,
based on:
* restoring the Basic State Pension (BSP) as a genuinely guaranteed
income for today's pensioners and a dependable foundation upon which those
in work can plan for their retirement
* reasserting a role for the state in second tier provision by
developing the new State Second Pension (S2P) to offer everyone a reliable
earnings-related top up to the BSP and an underpin to private schemes
* renewing the social insurance principle through an inclusive system
of credits and an independent National Insurance Commission to re-establish
accountability, transparency and trust
"Well done Catalyst. You're in good company - mixed company! - the
Daily Mail, Financial Times, National Association of Pension Funds, Labour
Party Conference (remember that?), the Institute of Public Policy Research,
the Work Foundation... Let's hope your booklet doesn't just sit on the shelf
along with the others."
- Rodney Bickerstaffe, President, National Pensioners Convention
The pamphlet is being sent out to Catalyst subscribers and can be ordered
from Central Books (020 8986 4854), price £5. For more information visit
http://www.catalystforum.org.uk/pubs/paper16.html.
"Thinktank urges pension reform" - read the Guardian's report at
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/thinktanks/story/0,10538,999333,00.html.
----------------------------------------------------------
'Better Pensions
The state's responsibility'
By Bryn Davies, Hilary Land, Tony Lynes, Ken MacIntyre, and Peter Townsend
A Catalyst Working Paper
Published in July 2003
ISBN 1 904508 06 5
56 pp
Price £5
http://www.catalystforum.org.uk/pubs/paper16.html
----------------------------------------------------------
C a t a l y s t
150 The Broadway
London SW19 1RX
Telephone +44 (0)20 7733 2111
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
www.catalystforum.org.uk
' p r a c t i c a l p o l i c i e s
f o r t h e r e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f
w e a l t h , p o w e r a n d o p p o r t u n i t y '
----------------------------------------------------------
Catalyst occasionally sends out e-mails detailing latest publications or
announcing future events. If you do not wish to continue receiving these
e-mails (which at present we do not expect to number more than one or two a
month) please contact [log in to unmask] Equally, if you know
someone who would benefit from being added to our growing list, please
forward this mailing to them.
|