Housewives told they won’t get state pension

MANY housewives are among more than 100,000 people set to receive letters informing them they are not entitled to a penny of the new flat-rate state pension.

The Government agreed to send the letters amid concerns that many reaching retirement age may not realise they cannot depend on receiving an income from the state.

MPs asked for the move because they believe there is much confusion over new rules that disqualify anyone with fewer than ten years of national insurance contributions. Stay-at-home mothers and older women who took on traditional roles in the home, or took extended periods of time off work to raise children, are most likely to lose out.

A single tier or flat-rate scheme worth £155.65 a week was introduced in April as part of the biggest shake-up to the state pension since it was introduced more than a century ago. This was designed to sweep away the complexities of the old system, which included the basic state pension and an earnings-related top-up called the state second pension.

But the Commons work and pensions committee found that there was widespread bewilderment over the impact of the new state pension, only weeks before its introduction, with many people left ‘unprepared and confused’.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies said many savers expecting to receive £155.65 a week will be disappointed and suggested ministers may have misled the public by exaggerating the simplicity of the new state pension.