Labour for an Independent Wales

To any young ones out there who think the state pension doesn’t matter or should go — please take a moment to listen. My husband is about to retire. He’s paid into workplace pensions for over 40 years, working process and manual jobs. Not high-paid roles, just decent above-average wages for that kind of work. He stayed at one place for 18 years and another for well over 20. Over that time the companies changed schemes and pots — things he had no say in — and sorting it all out now has been a right hassle. Workplace pensions do have a big advantage: the employer pays in as well (under the rules it’s at least 3% of qualifying earnings, on top of what you put in). If you were only paying into your own private pension today, you wouldn’t automatically get that employer money. Even so, after all those years of him and his employers putting money in — amounts that could easily add up to several thousand pounds a year in total contributions — he’s looking at something that, if he’s lucky, might cover roughly half a month’s wage each month from the whole lot in retirement. A lot of ordinary workers end up in a similar position. Changing jobs means multiple pots, contributions can be at the minimum levels, and growth doesn’t always turn into the kind of income people hope for once fees, markets and inflation are taken into account. It’s doubtful many of you will build a private pension that does much better on its own. The state pension is still the safety net underneath all of that. Right now the full new state pension is around £241 a week (just over £12,500 a year), and it rises under the triple lock. For people who haven’t built huge private pots — which is most of us who aren’t in high-paid jobs — it makes a real difference. Support it and fight to keep it strong. It’s your safety net too, not just for the generation retiring now.