Should 1950s WASPI women be compensated?

badmemory

I think a lot of the problem re WASPI women being told by various politicians that they support them is connected to the fact that very few people actually give a stuff about women over 60 & so have no clue as to what has happened here. Someone comes with a sob story about how at very short notice they got their state pension taken away & they just react with - well that seems very wrong. Then they are stuck with it! It obviously is not the truth but the more it is repeated the harder it is for anyone to deny.

nigelbb

colsten wrote: »

Do you actually have any evidence for the current 10% shortfall, and that it is currently made up out of general taxation? Or are you just making things up as you go?

Sorry my mistake I looked at accounts for 2015-16 which for an expenditure of over £94 billion required a Treasury Grant of £9.6 billion https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20170607011350/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-insurance-fund-accounts.
Current accounts for the last 3 years show there is no shortfall. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/839411/Great_Britain_National_Insurance_Fund_Account_-_2018_to_2019.pdf

colsten

Mistermeaner wrote: »

The whole thing is pathetic , both the claimants themselves and the snakes exploiting it (labour) and shame on the media for not exposing all of them for what they are

I agree with you, this matter gets way too little factual reporting in the media. The articles we see are often written by someone whose mum is a WASPI. In the words of Mhairi Black, SNP MP: "My mum is a WASPI and she would kill me if I didn't support them". We have seen one or two more critical reports though, including the one in the Times, and some blogs by people who are looking at the issue with a cool head, have done some fact finding, understand the basic principles of our state pension system, and who have no political agenda.

nigelbb

colsten wrote: »

Did you actually read the GAD Quinquennial Review? Can you post your assumptions and your calculations which show how your proposed increase supports how much state pension from what age for how long? Have you approached the GAD yet to offer your help with their calculations?

As an aside, NI isn't just simply 12%, even though many people pay that. Some people earn too little to pay NI, above a certain income level it's 2%, and that's just for employees. Whose employers are, obviously, also paying NI. Then there are NI rates for self-employed, and NI credits for various reasons. And total NI exemptions for about a quarter of the adult population.

The calculations are really very simple. To fund an extra 5 years of state pension requires £40K which is £20 per week for 40 years. So even funding entirely from employees contributions is feasible. The pensioner could do it themselves by investing in a private pension & there are many on this forum boasting of retiring in their forties or fifties simply out of their own savings. Most people aren't so prudent nor do they take the one view which is why it makes sense for the state to intervene & make it compulsory.

If NI receipts were not enough under current rules then the rates can be raised by levying NI on higher rate income at more than 2% or salaries of working pensioners who pay no NI at all (I know I'm one of them & have been receiving over £5K per year extra since I reached state pension age).

hugheskevi

State Pensions are only one of the costs to the State associated with ageing.

Public service pensions are another other obvious and frequently discussed expenditure item, but it is funding the forecast cost growth in NHS and care-home sector which present the greatest challenges.

It would not be sensible to consider one element of age-related spending in isolation and decide to increase tax to reduce State Pension without clear plans for how to fund all the other bigger costs that are coming with the demographic bulge of the ageing boomers.

Paul_Herring

nigelbb wrote: »

The pensioner could do it themselves by investing in a private pension..

So. A solved problem then, for those that actually want it, without needing ever more overbearing coercion by the state.

Seabee42

nigelbb wrote: »

The calculations are really very simple. To fund an extra 5 years of state pension requires £40K which is £20 per week for 40 years. So even funding entirely from employees contributions is feasible. The pensioner could do it themselves by investing in a private pension & there are many on this forum boasting of retiring in their forties or fifties simply out of their own savings. Most people aren't so prudent nor do they take the one view which is why it makes sense for the state to intervene & make it compulsory.

If NI receipts were not enough under current rules then the rates can be raised by levying NI on higher rate income at more than 2% or salaries of working pensioners who pay no NI at all (I know I'm one of them & have been receiving over £5K per year extra since I reached state pension age).

Its not that simple for one once you get to state pension age you also stop paying NI in. So you get a much bigger win there as well.

nigelbb

Paul_Herring wrote: »

So. A solved problem then, for those that actually want it, without needing ever more overbearing coercion by the state.

The state is already involved & provision of the state pension by compulsory contributions won’t be seen as overbearing coercion by anyone except right wing neoliberal nutjobs. It’s only a very small percentage increase on current contributions.

Malthusian

colsten wrote: »

The articles we see are often written by someone whose mum is a WASPI. In the words of Mhairi Black, SNP MP: "My mum is a WASPI and she would kill me if I didn't support them".

One of the 650 people who runs a country of 70 million openly admitting she takes orders on national welfare policy from her mum.

And they have the nerve to whinge about how the populace has a low opinion of them.

Probably the most pathetic spectacle from an MP since Jess Phillips' "I feel awfully silly" resignation letter to Jeremy Corbyn.

MarkCarnage

One of the 650 people who runs a country of 70 million openly admitting she takes orders on national welfare policy from her mum.

This may be why I haven't had a reply to my questions on this to my local MP - also SNP....maybe he's off to ask his mum....