Hundreds of Norfolk women will lose out by £10,000 for being born 'too early'
March 4, 2010 12:00 AM
Over 200 women in Norwich, and an estimated 1,728 across Norfolk, are each set to miss out on up to £10,400 over the next ten years because they were born as little as a day too early to benefit from changes to state pension rules, Liberal Democrat research has revealed.
From 6 April, both men and women will need to make 30 years of National Insurance payments to be eligible for the full state pension. The changes mean that a woman who has paid National Insurance for 30 years whose 60th birthday falls on 6 April would be entitled to a full state pension, whereas a woman who was born a day earlier and has worked just as long would only be entitled to three quarters of this - or around £75 a week in 2010-11. This could mean women retiring this year before the 6 April cut off could miss out on as much as £10,400 over the next decade.
Simon Wright, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Norwich South, said: "I'm very supportive of changes to the rules in April which will mean that a much higher proportion of women will receive the full state pension. However, the way that the rules have been implemented is incredibly unfair on the hundreds of women across Norfolk who will reach pension age in the run-up to these changes but who will not see any benefit of them.
"Many women across Norfolk will be furious to learn that they'll lose out by around £10,000 over the next decade simply because they were born a few days too early.
"However welcome the rule changes are for many, the Government should have phased in these new rules to ensure that all women approaching pension age are treated fairly. The Government must look again at how it could give women retiring in the run up to April some of the benefits of the changes."
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