Pension poor

The right wing economists have been busy. The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) think tank has produced a report calling for a 25 per cent cut in public sector pensions.
Tim Knox, director of the CPS, said "Yes, reform of public sector pensions is tremendously difficult. But this must be ruthlessly pursued..."

We also have the Reform think tank saying 400,000 public sector job losses would be "easily manageable"

Brian Strutton, national officer of the GMB, said: "To describe 400,000 public sector job losses as 'easily manageable' shows an inhumane and frankly disgusting attitude towards working people at a time when there are nearly one million young workers jobless."

Yet for those on private pensions capitalism has not been so rewarding or generous. One in six people stopped paying into to their pension in the wake of the recession, official figures have disclosed. More than a million people pulled out of making personal pension contributions due to a squeeze on household finances, according to the Office of National Statistics, wiping billions from pension pots. Rising inflation, pay freezes and high utility bills have eroded disposable household incomes, meaning that people have had to prioritise what they spend their money on. Personal pensions are usually taken out by the self-employed, small business owners and those who wish to supplement company or state pensions.

The number of over 65s working has steadily increased over the past few years, the figures from the Office of National Statistics show. Separately, figures from recruitment marketplace Peopleperhour.com showed that the number of newly retired people seeking work through its website had more than doubled in the last year. Xenios Thrasyvolou, chief executive of Peopleperhour, said that many people were being forced to work for longer simply to survive.
“Stock market-linked pensions are down, food and energy prices are up and the cost of living generally is having a massive impact on the already meagre means of many pensioners in the UK today,” he said. “PeoplePerHour.com has seen a shocking rise in the number of retired people being forced to seek extra work to pay bills or simply to be able to afford to eat.”

The cost of living for pensioners is rising faster than for the rest of the population, because retired people spend a greater proportion of their income on food and fuel – where prices are rising fastest. Many have a fixed income which is being fast eroded by inflation.