THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Pensioners are to receive a flat-rate universal retirement payment of £140 a week that will end the injustice of working mothers being penalised for taking a break to raise children, under reforms to be signalled by Iain Duncan Smith today.
The Work and Pensions Secretary will pledge to sweep away a host of complex rules and "fundamentally simplify" the basic state pension.
Insiders said Mr Duncan's Smith's intervention represents the start of a Coalition drive to replace the existing state pension regime with a "single tier" retirement payment.
Official estimates suggest that many women who take time out from work for family reasons are left up to £40 a week worse off by rules that base pension payments on National Insurance contributions.
Charities said a universal pension would "reduce fear for those approaching retirement."
In a speech to charity leaders and pension experts, Mr Duncan Smith will condemn the pension system as a bureaucratic mess that leaves many people confused and puts young people off saving. >>> James Kirkup, Political Correspondent | Monday, March 07, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Pension changes Q&A: who will win and lose? – News that the Government plans to introduce a universal state pension have been welcomed by many. It will replace the current hotchpotch of basic state pension, earnings-related “top-up” payments, plus additional means-tested benefits. >>> Emma Simon | Monday, March 07, 2011
