[IER] Tory think tank out of touch on pension issues.

Wed Jan 22 15:43:17 GMT 2014

Free resources provided by the Institute of Employment Rights

ierlogo-events.gif

Tory think tank out of touch on pension issues.

Pensions London.jpg

Wednesday 12 February 2014 Unite Building, London 

With Bryn Davies, Director, Union Pensions Service, Craig Berry, University of Sheffield, Neil Duncan-Jordan, National Pensions Convention, Michael Ford QC, Old Square Chambers, Christine Haswell, PCS, Glyn Jenkins, UNISON. 

 <http://www.ier.org.uk/events/pensions-changes-and-challenges> Book now

Book now for  <http://www.ier.org.uk/events/pensions-changes-and-challenges> London

Policy Exchange think tank ignores cost of living struggle in backwards proposals to tackle “pensioner poverty”
Authored by Laura Ryder

Policy Exchange – a think tank led by Tory MPs – has proposed the Help to Save scheme to force people into pensions contributions in order to tackle the problem of “pensioner poverty”. 

Whilst avoiding pensioner poverty is an extremely important issue, the IER is sceptical about the proposed scheme as it will make life even harder for those who are already struggling to make ends meet. It seems that the proposal will have a direct negative effect on workers and their wages.  

Policy Exchange thinks that people should be banned from opting-out of workplace pensions. In addition, the think tank wants to see a system where as people’s salary increases, a higher amount of the wage will be automatically redirected to pension savings. 

The report says that someone on an average salary, should, according to Policy Exchange, be saving over six times they are at the moment to generate the government's recommended income of £16,200.

Currently, the average pension pot is estimated by the think tank to be £36,800, which would only generate a retirement income of £1,340 at today’s annuity rates. 

Whilst it is true that many people’s retirement income is too low, the problem with the proposal made by Policy Exchange is that workers’ salaries are already so low they are often subsidised by the government through working tax credits, and even those once defined as middle classed are struggling to make ends meet due to rocketing living costs.

If workers are forced to remove money from their wages in order to contribute to their pensions, they would be struggling even more than they already are. 

Policy Exchange, it seems, have got the situation backwards. While it is laudable to fight poverty among the elderly, one cannot achieve this by putting even more pressure on today’s poor. A realistic increase in wages for those on low pay must be seen if Britain is to weather the growing pensions bill in the future.

If you are interested in the fight for a fair pension for workers, the IER is hosting a conference in London on February 12, at the Unite Building. The conference will address the use of pensions and what we can do to improve the situation. 

We urge you to come along as we will be joined by a vast number of experts on the subject who will provide an insight into the situation. We hope to see you there. 

  <http://Twitter+Account+not+yet+Authorized> follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook |  <http://us5.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=bfce15d9bb37b64de42086ad2&id=65c8330066&e=f3c546ffe5> forward to a friend  

IER

4th Floor

Jack Jones House, 1 Islington

Liverpool, Eng L3 8EG 

United Kingdom

Add us to your address book <http://ier.us5.list-manage.com/vcard?u=bfce15d9bb37b64de42086ad2&id=c042dcd768> 

 <http://www.mailchimp.com/monkey-rewards/?utm_source=freemium_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=monkey_rewards&aid=bfce15d9bb37b64de42086ad2&afl=1> Email Marketing Powered by MailChimp

 To unsubscribe, please follow the instructions in the footer.  If you are unable to see the footer or have problems unsubscribing, please click here <http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/options/ier-elist>  or email unsubscribe at ier.org.uk.

  <http://ier.us5.list-manage.com/track/open.php?u=bfce15d9bb37b64de42086ad2&id=65c8330066&e=f3c546ffe5> 

_______________________________________________
IER-elist mailing list
You are subscribed as sarah at ier.org.uk
Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/ier-elist
To unsubscribe click the link below:
http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/options/ier-elist/sarah%40ier.org.uk?password=avugukpo <http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/options/ier-elist/sarah%40ier.org.uk?password=avugukpo&unsub=1&unsubconfirm=1> &unsub=1&unsubconfirm=1

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/pipermail/ier-elist/attachments/20140122/8b5f494f/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 10585 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/pipermail/ier-elist/attachments/20140122/8b5f494f/attachment.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 4216 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/pipermail/ier-elist/attachments/20140122/8b5f494f/attachment.jpg>