While we have had a thriving occupational pension sector for well over half a century, the state pension remains a significant portion of the retirement income for millions of older citizens. Even for many at work today, it is still the cornerstone of their retirement planning.
Put simply, the state pension both is, and will continue to be, crucial for the longer-term wellbeing of tens of millions of British people.
We are all aware of the plight of the Waspi women in recent years – a movement that grew from the outrage associated with poorly communicated and rushed changes to the state pension age of women as they were moved to a common retirement age with men.
These changes were put in place in 1995 and had their implementation accelerated in 2011, just as the adjustments to pension ages and pension amounts were taking effect.
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It was inevitable that changes structured in such a way as to lead to vastly differing retirement outcomes for people born sometimes just days apart were open to criticism. Surely it was as unnecessary as it was cruel.
Indeed, there should never be any need to make sudden or forced changes to the state pension system. As far as intergenerationally funded benefits like pensions are concerned, the ship of state should never need to turn on a sixpence.
The number of people born, both men and women, in any year or decade is known with great precision. Indeed, the data we have regarding our citizens is far richer than just their sex and dates of birth; we even know their names and addresses for goodness’ sake.
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With such useful data at our disposal it should be relatively simple to precisely model the financial and social outcomes of both funding and providing a state pension that all parties – workers, pensioners and the state – can understand and rely on.
It costs a great deal of money to provide generous state pensions to millions of people and it speaks well of our society that we prioritise such endeavours.
But the time has come for the establishment of a new, independent pensions commission to assume responsibility for this important pillar of our national life. Pensions are too important to be left to the hurly-burly of everyday politics.
Steve Bee is director of WorkLife by OpenMoney
Not a chance.