Pensioners' Charter

06 Sep 2007

Hackney Gazette

This month I was visited by Hackney representatives of the National Pensioners Convention who came to Westminster for the annual rally and to lobby MPs on the issue of pensioners’ rights. There is a grand tradition of activism amongst Hackney pensioners and many of them are old friends.  

Since 2005, the Pensioners’ Parliament has had their own Charter setting out the basic rights they would like to see provided for elderly people. These rights include: ensuring that the basic state pension keeps pensioners above the official poverty line; community and health care services appropriate to their needs; free transport; protection against discrimination and dignity and respect. These seem like pretty standard requests but unfortunately there are areas where elderly people are not having their needs met and many are being pushed into poverty or ill health.

The National Pensioners’ Convention has raised some very serious issues with me. They believe that elderly people have become an invisible population of sorts because their needs are rarely prioritised in Parliament. Many elderly people feel that having spent their lives working, bringing up children, and contributing to British society, they should be entitled to financial and social security in their pension years. The Convention believes pensioners should not be in the position where they have to sell their homes in order to cover the costs of care, or even just to make ends meet. The current suggested pension rise of £3.40 a week is not enough when inflation is taken into account.

Looking after the elderly for me is about basic respect. In other cultures and countries, elderly members of the family are looked after by their children and younger members of the family. This may mean that elderly members move into their children’s family home, or that younger (and richer) members pay for care. Problems with pensioners’ finances in this country stem from the fact that families are smaller, the fact that people are living longer (and so have a much longer period of living off a pension) and from a culture which usually means elderly parents do not live with their children. However, with a dwindling birth rate, people living longer and companies becoming less inclined to pay out for pensions there is what many people are calling a “pensions crisis”. The problem is that at present no-one wants to take on responsibility for the crisis. Should companies be forced to provide pensions? Should the state shoulder the extra costs? Or should the onus lie with individuals who must learn to save more of their earnings?

Within the debate on pensioners’ rights it must be recognised that the Labour government has done lot to improve the status of elderly people in this country. Since 1997 3 million pensioners have been lifted out of poverty, £11 billion more has been spent on pensioners than the previous government, and provided free eye tests, local travel, and TV licences. However doing better than the previous government is not good enough. The link between pensions and earnings must be restored as soon as possible. Pensioners must be provided for in all areas relating to their basic needs. People need to have confidence that reaching pension age they will not be left out in the cold but will be able to live in a comfortable and enriching way.



back ⇢