To think public sector pensions should be slashed?

Do you understand that public sector employees pay pension contributions from their wages as well as the employee contribution? Because the way you write your posts suggest that you think it’s all coming from ‘taxes’. Though I’m sure you’re just being goady 🙄

And as other people have said, final salary pensions have been phased out, public sector wages are generally lower than private sector wages, and you’re welcome to apply for a public sector job and get one of those cushy pensions you think we have.

Meh, earning less than half total package INCLUDING pensions in my public sector role than my old private sector one.

How exactly are you planning to recruit outstanding doctors, nurses, teachers, police, judges, engineers, policy makers, c-suite level managers, trade negotiators (in the post brexit, Trumpian level shitshow that we inhabit) if not only do you want to pay them fuck all, slate them constantly then make sure they retire on a pittance?

My private sector contributions were MORE than my public sector ones, even though the percentage was much less. Because I earned so much more.

Good luck to you if you get sick but there’s no clever, highly trained ICU staff to look after you, because they’ve all been underpaid then poached to other countries who will respect them and pay them a generous multiple of what they get here!

(don’t work in healthcare myself but intense gratitude and respect to those who do).

YABU

The Civil Service is a career average pension now - final salary are pretty much obsolete. I think the 'generous' pension is a benefit for public services as they don't get the perks and salaries available in the private sector.

I'd rather stop subsidising the bar in Parliament

I don't think you understand how poor the pay is in the public sector?

Ask yourself why doesn't every university graduate dream of a public sector role? Then...there's your answer! The pension is only part of a whole package. A private sector worker could pay more into theirs to bring their levels up....and probably still take home more pay than a public sector worker!

Dunno anyone on a final salary pension, in many years

Fine by me, as long as I get salary of my job in the private sector, so that's about 3 x what I get as an NHS consultant

Many private sector jobs command perks that do not exist in public sector such as bonuses, so that's another consideration.

The reason companies pay bonuses is because a one off bonus costs them less money that a payrise which, by the power of compound interest gives the employee far more money. And they don't need to pay employer pension contributions on a bonus. No numerate employee wants a bonus, they want basic salary increases.

You would lose thousands of teachers as it’s the only thing keeping many of them there and we already have a crisis. My maths/computer science DH would move as he could earn more in industry:

Building a large pension pot is future proofing pension fund. BT got caught out by this and upped their contributions to 10%

There are also lots of people in the civil service who earn barely over minimum wage due to pay freezes and minimum wage rises. The salary for an AO graded role for example (administrative officer) is usually around the 23k mark

1/49 is an incredibly generous accrual rate.

What, and create a new bunch of people potentially being eligible for pension credit?

Final salary pensions have already been phased out in most public jobs.

What you are asking for has been done.

Civil servants don't get any other perks like you often do in private. Lower salaries, no private healthcare and dental, no bonuses, etc. Never understood the 'ruin things for others' mentality. There are far bigger places where tax payers money isn't being used efficiently, I don't think penalising civil servants and making future pensioners poorer is the answer. Pretty foolish suggestion really.

There's chronic staff shortages in many essential roles within the public sector, nurses, teachers, emergency services etc. Pay really isn't that great for professional graduate roles, typically around £30-50k with no bonuses.

You know, the sort of money that MN generally thinks is somewhere between 'a pittance' and 'not very much' while they're merrily talking about their 25 YO DC earning twice that in the private sector.

Do you think it's a good idea to make the chronic shortage of these roles worse by reducing the one part of the package where the public sector is more attractive than the private sector?

Also, if you think the public sector is more attractive, you can always apply to work there.

@Monwmum actually some public bodies, including the one I work at, are trading funds and don't receive any central funding. Our pension contributions are funded by the work we charge for doing. So my pension contributions are not funded by taxpayers.

And also give annual bonuses that are still common in the higher level of the private sector. The pension provision was always the one advantage that the public sector offered in exchange for the lower salaries and conditions in comparison to the private sector.

But op specifically said final salary which is very different.

Basically they already HAVE slashed our pensions.

i think the % employers appear to pay is misleading. The % is based on what it would cost to buy an annuity of the same value. It’s not actually cash exchanged. Most people with a pension pot that size wouldn’t buy an annuity they’d see it as a raw deal and keep the cash value instead.

You realize the vast majority of people in the PS earn between £30k - £50k a year, yes there are a small number on ££££ but the majority are not, and ofcourse pay tax on what they earn, many at the lowest grades are accessing food banks there are very few high rollers in comparison to the private sector.

Some of those pensioners benefitted from final salary pension schemes themselves...

The private sector need to start competing instead of seeking ever higher profits for a select few. Reducing public sector pensions so more people end up in pension poverty and either suffer or are bailed out by the state to ensure high private sector profits is daft.

I'm a teacher. Years of pay freezes and 1% increases means my salary is way below what it should have been, adjusted for inflation. It is nowhere near what private sector increases are. My husband who works in industry has had a 6.5% pay rise every year for the last 6 years!!

Compare chief exec salaries between public and private sector and then tell us they're overpaid.

That's still a DB pension.

I read an article somewhere - and I wish I could remember where - that floated the idea of offering new joins the option of taking a higher salary in return for a lower pension contribution. Depending on the figures, honestly, if I were offered that I think I would have taken it.