Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the Government has not yet implemented its policy to increase the Pension Protection Fund compensation cap for service over 20 years; and when he plans to implement that policy.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the hon.Member to the answer I gave on 1 February 2016 to 24981
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps he has taken to support women who have been affected by state pension inequalities.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Our pension policies are providing greater choice and dignity for people in retirement, whilst also ensuring the system is sustainable for the future.
The new State Pension is being introduced for those who reach State Pension age from April 2016. Under our state pension reforms over three million women will gain an average of £11 per week more State Pension by 2030.Around 75 per cent of women (and 70 per cent of men) who reach State Pension age under the new system in the first fifteen years will have a higher value State Pension when compared to the value of the State Pension they would have received under the old system.
National Insurance credits for those who take time out of work for caring responsibilities will gain the same state pension entitlement as National Insurance contributions through earnings.
The average woman reaching State Pension age in the new State Pension is also estimated to receive 10% more State Pension over her lifetime than the average man. Women reaching State Pension in the next 40 years will on average receive more State Pension over their lifetime than women ever have before. Women affected by equalisation of State Pension age will be entitled to the same working age in-work, out-of-work and disability benefits as men.