16 articles on this subject, from across the site.
The OBR's projections suggest public-service pension costs will fall relative to GDP, but this relies on specific assumptions about wage growth, employment and economic performance that warrant stress-testing.
Analysis of how reducing future pension accrual by 20-40% would cut annual government spending on unfunded public-sector pensions, with cumulative savings reaching £495bn by 2057 in today's money.
Modelling shows reducing future pension accrual by 20-40% from 2027 could save £84bn to £168bn in today's money, though cash savings build gradually and depend on workforce age distribution.
Public pension reforms affect government finances in three distinct ways: accounting costs, liability reduction and cash payments. These operate on different timescales and have different magnitudes.
Cutting existing pensions would save cash immediately but affect current pensioners. Reducing future accrual saves little now but substantially lowers long-term liability as pensioners gradually transition to less generous schemes.
A 40% cut to unfunded public-sector pensions would save £16-19bn annually after accounting for lost tax revenue and increased welfare spending, not the £24bn often claimed.
A government proposal to cut defined benefit pensions by 40% lacks sound comparison with defined contribution pensions, which offer less certainty and different risk profiles.
A 40% reduction in public-sector defined-benefit pensions could save around £19-21 billion annually after accounting for lost income tax, though actual savings would depend on means-tested support and legal challenges.
Cutting defined-benefit pensions by 40% to match defined-contribution outcomes would impose substantial losses on existing pensioners, raise legal questions about retrospective benefit cuts, and push some into means-tested benefits.
Countries fund and organise long-term care differently: some rely on public services, others on family support or insurance. The approach affects who pays, what services exist, and whether older people can afford care.
Defined benefit pensions offer guaranteed income but are rare outside the public sector. Defined contribution pensions require workers to manage investment risk, but aggressive investing and delayed retirement can match DB outcomes.
The UK pension system splits between Defined Benefit pensions, offering guaranteed income mostly to public sector workers, and Defined Contribution pensions, where private sector workers bear investment risk.
MPs and their support staff cost around £500-600 million annually. Civil servants supporting government cost £15-17 billion yearly, though costs directly attributed to MPs alone are difficult to isolate precisely.
Governments maintain law and order, provide public services like healthcare and education, manage economies, ensure social welfare, protect national security, conduct foreign policy, protect the environment, and promote justice and equality.
UK pension funds lost significant sums when Icelandic banks collapsed in 2008. Some recovered losses through settlements, whilst others faced prolonged disputes with the Icelandic government.
UK pension funds are dispersed across diverse investments including equities, bonds, real estate, infrastructure and private equity, managed by professional asset managers across global financial markets.
