Move to give women carers fair pension deal

**Rebadow** · 14th-March-2006

Quote from [url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/economics/story/0,,1730517,00.html

Patrick Wintour @Guardian Unlimited (click for the whole article)[/url]]The government will today unveil radical plans to end discrimination in the provision of women's pensions by proposing weekly credits for women whose careers are interrupted because they acted as carers or raised children.

The proposal will be set out today by John Hutton, the work and pensions secretary. He will argue for the first time that the government should equate the social contribution of carers and mothers with that of workers who pay national insurance. In effect, the system should be remoulded to reward women who give up work to bring up children or care for sick relatives.

...

He will instead argue that the government needs to look at a new contributory principle based on credits for carers. He will argue that the proposal need not be discriminatory, since caring responsibilities are increasingly shared by men and women. He will argue: "In fact, as modern lives become increasingly more diverse - and men and women alike spend time bringing up children and caring for family and friends - this could be a win for men as well."

Yes, and requring women to work 5 years longer (now women retire 5 years earlier than men) could be a win for men as well. Yes, let's make things more equal, more fair, yes, let's end some discrimination! [/cynism off]

**Fred X** · 14th-March-2006

Yes LG, you hit the nail on the head there

Although looking at the original article, it is pathetically dismal that men only get a brief mention at the very END of the article.

Much time and effort has been spent on foregrounding women's 'hardships', i.e.

Only 30% of women reaching full basic state pension age are currently entitled to a full basic state pension. On average women aged 60 receive 70% of a full basic state pension. There are thought to be 2.2m women not accruing the full basic state pension, of which around 600,000 are earning below the lower earnings threshold of Â£82 a week.

Yawn. I'm bored already.

I think I shall only start to awaken properly when I see some statistics that cover men's inequalities.

And if this Hutton bloke wants to start talking about benifits to men, then he might want to consider making either men work 5 years less or women work 5 years more.

LG pointed out, and rightly so, that women get to retire 5 years earlier than men. And get this; men die on averge 5-8 years before women.

Does this get mentioned?

Ever?

I think not

Perhaps we should go and march and burn our underpants demanding that we men should liberate ourselves by being exempt from work altogether, given that we've had to do it for centuries

The feminist movement did this when they wanted to get the vote, something which they didn't deserve in the first place, as it was men, yes MEN, who had to fight in wars for the privilage of voting