Retirement with dignity
Huge demographic changes are taking place in this
country. With the proportion of older people in society growing, only the
Liberal Democrats have policies that will ensure dignity and security in
retirement for all, and be sustainable over the long term.
We will ensure
that the basic state pension is increased by more than £100 a month for single
pensioners and by £140 a month for couples. We will restore the link with
earnings and base entitlement on residency, not National Insurance
contributions, benefiting many women who have taken time out of the labour
market to bring up children and who are faced with a very low income at
retirement.
In Scotland, Liberal Democrats have successfully introduced
free personal care for those who need it, for as long as they need it. We will
ensure that across the UK, people will no longer be forced to use up their
savings to pay for personal care.
We will replace the council tax, which places a huge and unfair burden on pensioners, with a
fairer system of local income tax. We will make significant improvements to
healthcare and transport.
These promises will address many of the
consequences for public services of the demographic changes. But with more
people living longer more active lives we need to see the so-called 'demographic
timebomb' not as a threat, but as an opportunity - an opportunity to re-engage
people as they retire, to make sure their skills and energy are not lost to
society and to the economy.
It is a gross indignity to subscribe to the
notion that a person's contribution to society, and indeed the economy, stops
when you reach 65.
We will end the sudden cliff edge of retirement that
forces people to stop working at a certain age, whether they want to or not. We
will promote a flexible decade of retirement, where arbitrary retirement ages
are scrapped and age discrimination legislation is enforced.
We will make
company pensions schemes more flexible, so that pensions can be drawn while
working part time. And we will increase opportunities for people to go back to
learning and retrain past 55.
We are determined that in the 21st century,
every generation in Britain has the freedom to exploit their talent, experience
and potential.
Our active, positive, assured older people are keen to use
their experience for the benefit of our society. They have the time, the energy
and the motivation to make a difference in their community. We intend to make
sure they can.
To get further details about our policy in this and other areas, visit our manifestos section.
