To think that a lot of people don't seem to understand that part-time work = much smaller pension?

[AHedgehogCanNeverBeBuggered]

I work with a lot of women in their 50s, several of whom have expressed their shock/disgust at how little occupational pension they'll be receiving when they retire, even proportionally compared to FT workers. They have all had DC then remained PT even after the DC became teenagers and eventually left for uni. I didn't want to say anything to them when they were complaining to me how hard done by they are, but surely it's basic maths to know that the more you invest (and the earlier) the more it grows and therefore the greater the pension? How can they now claim to be so surprised and hard done by?

Well I’m fucked. Gave up work 15 years ago as I had no choice due to my child’s severe disabilities. Carers used to get 2nd state pension contributions but that no longer exists.
I worry about my pension but what can u do when carers allowance is only £63 per week?

The (one) poster banging on about how unfair it is that women are shafted for ‘smelling the roses’ and ‘raising the next generation’ had me ROFL!

This is a serious issue- the figures show that a much higher number of women than men have totally inadequate provision for their older age. You can still raise your children while being realistic that if you stop working or work part time for decades then you’re likely to be screwed later on. Please don’t let’s turn this into the kind of pathetic thread where women are somehow not being a proper parent unless they sacrifice their career and never return to full time work again after giving birth

Op it's not just about part-time vs full-time. Some part-timers are possibly earning the same or more than low paid full-time workers.

Somebody commented on the Child Benefit not being paid to hirer earning families. They still advise you to fill the CB form in even if you tick the no money box. A, it gets you your NI credits while your child is young, B it also makes HMRC aware of your child to issue a NI number when they are 16.

I work part time and I know my pension is a bit crap. I won't be expressing surprise in 20 years time. But I'm still young-ish and plan to build back up to full time in the next few years

Exactly the point I was trying to make. It's about how much you earn, and what contributions are made, and what type of pension it is, not how many hours you work.

Apparently going to university messes up your NI. HMRC say I have missed contributions for those years.

Babbity - agree, the "bugger off to the office" vs "get the children ready" as if you can only do one of those, and that SAH parents don't appear to be allowed private pensions

Anyone can have a private pension

When people SAH have a discussion to setup a private pension and make contributions from the family pot even if small - this is important - impoverishing yourself in old age should not be a martyrish sacrifice, why do people share current accounts yet not share savings including pension?

I work part-time for a private hospital group and pay 20% into my employer private pension. My employer kindly pays 1% and they only pay the full-timers 2%.

I am 44 and work part time as DH has busy job with long hours and he cannot manage the school drop offs and pick ups, school holiday care, taking time off when one of the DC is ill, etc, etc. So I need the flexibility of my regular WOHM role and I also do some self employed.
work too.

I think employer contributions is something that isn't discussed enough tbh... in that considering a role should include salary and prospects, other perks but definitely also what your employer is prepared to pay in pension contributions on your behalf. Problem is that working for a private medical group may give you a marginally better salary than NHS but you miss out on the perks of an NHS pension

1% is close enough to nothing... in my situation my employer pays in about £3 a month whilst I pay £300. I don't know why they bother

The women who smell the roses usually claim (rightly) that their Dhs income is partly theirs so presumably that is true of the pension.

Magna, do the children of working parents not get up, dressed and out to school? Do I not need to wash clothes? Have I been doing it wrong?

Severely disabled child so like @Havingahorridtime worrying about a pension wasn’t really an option. Dh’s Is crap as well.

Ds1 is now grown up (still severely disabled but has 24 hour 2:1 care). I’m retraining in September. Will qualify when I am 50. Chose the career path a) because I love the field and b) because it’s a job I can still do when I am ancient. I was meant to start last year but ds1’s care package fell apart and we had to step in.

I have been aware for years that I have no pension. That didn’t magic away ds1’s Disabilities.

This is a massive reason behind my decision to go back FT when my youngest started school and why I paid each month into a private one when freelance/PT. It's still only going to be a crappy one though - but prob just enough to mean I won't get a state one if/when they introduce means testing!

And the ‘pay into a private pension anyway’ rarely works if you have a severely disabled child because you’re often broke.

Ds1 is now grown up (still severely disabled but has 24 hour 2:1 care). I’m retraining in September. Will qualify when I am 50.

I also have a severely disabled child and work very part time only. Great that you managed to retrain but seems you have a good care package. Many of my friends with DC with severe disabilities managed to work part time as long as their DC was in school but all struggled to get good care packages after the DC left school and most were forced to give up even the little part time jobs.

I’m part time, have been since having DD 3.5 years ago, and I will be for at least another 2.5 years when DS turns 3. I pay into a SIPP, and we included the costs of making these contributions as part of the cost of going part time.

And the ‘pay into a private pension anyway’ rarely works if you have a severely disabled child because you’re often broke.

Yes to this^^. Carers allowance of £63 per week doesn’t come close to what I was earning. We bought our house based on us both working and I had to give up work within a year due to child’s disabilities. We have struggled on husbands wage to pay the mortgage and everything else. DH has a deferred occupational pension which I will get 50% of if he dies but that isn’t enough on its own to keep me in old age. The pension I had before giving up work is worth pittance.
I can’t save into a private pension because we simply don’t have the money due to our forced circumstances.

@MagnaWiles I can assure you I do all those things you listed and work. As do the majority of working parents.

Perhaps people realise it in general terms but don't quite realise the extent of the impact until they see the figures and it's too late. It's the early contributions (in a DC scheme at least) which are the most valuable I believe and it's hard to catch up. It should be something people factor into the calculation in deciding whether they can cut back hours but have rarely seen it on mumsnet at least! Or people should think about extra contributions when the are young to make up for the loss when they go part time. But that would take quite a mental shift particularly when there are so many competing demands on income.

I am surprised that women who worked before employers offered pensions wouldn't have thought to open their own or have corresponding savings. It seems a bit passive.

If you are a carer on £63 a week then it's different of course and I don't know what the answer is.

magna. Women who cut back work for childcare do get back an equal pension to full time workers from the state in the form of the State pension (as long as they claim NI credits) don't they? However, I don't think it would be fair to ask full time workers to subsidise part time workers in a private work pension any more than higher earners subsidise the lower. However you cut it, it's a choice which people have to self fund.

Please don't let’s turn this into the kind of pathetic thread where women are somehow not being a proper parent unless they sacrifice their career and never return to full time work again after giving birth

Then don't do it. I made my choice (SAHM then part-time) based on what I wanted to do. Respect my choice just as I respect yours to do things differently. Why do women have to tear into each other on this forum?

My smell the roses comment might have been a bit wanky but it comes from watching my mum die at the age of 47 after working full-time from a school leaving age of 14 because she had no choice. She didn't get the chance to receive her state or private pension.

YABU. I'm 45 this year and work part-time. My DTs are 12 this year but due to DH long hours and the fact I actually found the primary school years easier to organise, I won't be going FT yet.

I also like to be home when the kids are, my choice.

But it's no shock that pension pot is reduced and I haven't always been part-time and I bought a property on my own in 2002 and in some ways my now jointly owned home is my pension.

You are talking about three women at your work specifically so am glad you said some women in your OP as many of us are aware of the issue.

there is a state pension, it is not That bad

I would like to work full time but there isn't an opening in where I work.

Yes I knew. But I'm still shocked when I see it in black and white.

But then every one I know, men in their late 50's with good pension pots, their pensions are worth a lot less, in the last few years.

The size of an occupational pension is directly related to what you've paid in. If you're working less, you're paying less.

It's not rocket science.

I disagree with people saying there'll be no state pension in the not too distant future. Older people are a huge section of the population that turn out to vote and that will get bigger. Any government that wants votes won't want to upset this group so I can't see any reason they would. They'd rather cut benefits for groups that don't vote .

I'd rather have picked DC up from school every day than enjoy cruises in my 70s

Yeah, all those cashed-up septegenarians going on cruises the whole time with the spare change from their state pension. No wonder the country's gawn to the dogs.

I wonder if the gender pay gap comes into play.

My first 'professionally trained' job in 1996 paid 6k. I knew my male colleague was paid more. At that point I was renting alone and could barely scrape by so opted out in that job. Had my salary been higher I might have paid in.