Citizens' pension plan to lift nearly million out of poverty (UK)

[sweetheart]

http://money.guardian.co.uk/pensions/story/0,6453,1401413,00.html

Nearly a million pensioners, most of them women, will be lifted from "abject poverty" if the cabinet accepts Alan Johnson's plans to revolutionise Britain's welfare state.

The work and pensions secretary plans to replace the system of the past 50 years with a new "citizens' pension". Residence, rather than national insurance contributions, would become the criterion for a basic state pension.

The current system has an in-built bias against carers or those without continuous full-time employment - both groups in which women feature heavily. Only 13% of women pensioners get a full basic state pension.

Before unveiling his department's five-year plan - the first installment of which is due next week - Mr Johnson told the Guardian that he is opposed to"patching up" the existing state pension system.
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[rodeodance]

1. an article on DU a few days age talked of the UK becoming like the US

Social Security System--while at the same time Bush wants to gut it.

[sweetheart]

2. Its quite the opposite of the bush hack

I am inspired to read this... in an age where LBN is downright depressing
of more nightmare from the fascists. Britain is bent on getting the
pensions system right and proper for those mose disabused by the system.

:-) wow... when one can trend towards cynicism about all government,
they go with something brilliant like this.

The UK is adopting the wise parts from the US and leaving the dross.

[CJCRANE]

3. Luckily

the govt in the UK seems to have two leaders at the moment. There is the Prime Minister Tony Blair of course, but there is also the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown (who wants to be the next PM) - he seems to be behind most of the more left-wing policies such as minimum wage, tax-credits for working families, debt relief for third world countries etc.(Also as he controls the country's finances I guess he has a lot of power over these things).

[sweetheart]

6. Gordon is the good guy of the two

He's been true to uplifting the poor since he came in office.

[izzie]

4. Even our system is hard on women who worked part times

--

[The Zanti Regent]

5. Tell me about it.

The biggest hole in the current Social Security system is for housewives who become disabled. If they chose to be a homemaker and they become disabled, the only kind of assistance they can get is SSI, based on income. I know, my mom was crippled in a car accident when she was 55 and she spent the last 20 years of her life in a nursing home. Dad made too much to get Medicaid or SSI so we had to pay the bills out of our own pocket when Dad's lifetime limit for his medical bills was hit.

Meanwhile the ass who ran Pennsylvania's Screw Cross cried all the way to the bank...