Pension reform will not help today's carers

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has called on the government to ensure that its proposed pension reforms do not neglect the pension needs of older carers.

At present, people who spend some or all of their time caring for dependants are heavily disadvantaged when they reach retirement age, as they have not been in paid employment for long enough to qualify for the full state pension.

The Pensions White Paper published earlier this year (see July's Labour Research) will enable thousands more carers to build up their state pension entitlement, by reducing the number of qualifying years and widening eligibility for carers' tax credits.

But these improvements will not come into effect until 2010, so will be too late to benefit the current generation of carers aged 45 or over, most of whom are women.

"These women, who are more likely to have spent time out of the workforce caring and faced even greater pay inequalities at work than today's younger women, are still at risk of poverty in retirement," said EOC chair Jenny Watson. She also pointed out that, since middle-aged women form a large part of the electorate, improving their pensions would be in politicians' self-interest: "The party that offers a fairer pension for all carers could win many votes too."

Overall, however, Watson welcomed the white paper's proposals. "Carers, who for too long have been second-class citizens in the state pensions system, finally look set to be better recognised," she noted.