Millions of women working in local government will see their pensions improve under new reforms coming into force in April, as the government takes action to close the gender pension gap.
These steps will directly benefit working people on the front line, serving school lunches, cleaning buildings, managing libraries, and cleaning streets.
Measures include making gender pension gap data reporting statutory and making unpaid additional maternity, shared parental and adoption leave automatically pensionable.
Around three-quarters of the scheme’s near seven million members are women and one of the most significant causes of the gender pension gap is due to maternity leave.
Making unpaid additional maternity leave automatically pensionable is a critical step that will help close the gender pension gap.
Minister for Local Government and Homelessness, Alison McGovern said
It is shocking that this gender imbalance in our pension system has persisted so long, and I am proud that these reforms will help correct this historic inequality.
These crucial changes will give hard working cleaners, librarians, school cooks and other public servants the security in retirement they deserve.
Minister for Pensions Torsten Bell said
For too long, women have been penalised in retirement simply for having children.
These reforms mean that for millions of women working in local government, taking time out to care for a new baby will no longer cost them their pension security.
This is about a pension system that works for modern families and properly values the vital contribution of working women across our public services.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said
Everyone deserves a decent quality of life in retirement, but the gender pension gap means that too many women are pushed into hardship.
It’s not right. That’s why these measures are an important step forward – they will make a meaningful difference for millions of women working in local government, helping them to build up a decent pension.
It’s now vital we see more action to close the gender pensions pay gap across the whole workforce, including by extending this approach to the rest of the public sector.
Other measures include backdated payments and increased future pension payments to ensure that all surviving partners of eligible members are given the same pension as other survivors regardless of the type of relationship they were in.
Due to issues with the existing regulations, there have been instances where people in same-sex marriages and civil partnerships have received a more generous pension entitlement than those in opposite-sex marriages and partnerships.
Under these new reforms, all discrimination on the basis of the sex of those affected will be removed.
Another reform will remove an age cap currently in place that requires an LGPS member to have died before the age of 75 for their survivor to receive a lump sum payment.
The government is also taking steps to keep people in the scheme by enhancing data collection on why people opt out, in a bid to ensure as many people as possible benefit.