Penalised for being the perfect mother
DESPITE the equalising of pension ages for the sexes, millions of women will not receive the same as men because a large majority did not accumulate the required 35 years of National Insurance contributions, mainly due to taking time out to raise a family. If we are obsessed with equality then I, as a male who has contributed 50 years of N.I. contributions, would like to donate the 15 years of overpayment that the Government was quite happy to keep deducting from my salary to my wife, Ronnie. This would give Ronnie her fair dues for making it possible for me to amass my contributions by being my partner in life and forgoing her career to make sure we had the best possible family life. We didn’t get housing benefit, free school meals or subsidised nursery places. So tell me, if all today’s financial fringe benefits are available to the millennial families, will they accept reduced pensions for their mother’s generation? Your mum gave up her career to raise you and your siblings, which means she doesn’t qualify for a full pension to be able to take life easy in her old age. No, she is doing your job of looking after your kids so you can go back to work. She does it for nothing other than the odd thank-you, so you can enjoy a career and accumulate a huge pension, both state and private, along with all the financial benefits your parents couldn’t afford. I am eternally grateful for what my wife gave up for my family, but I have only contempt for a government that says it believes in equality.
BARRY DAVIES, Chorley, Lancs.