Is it fair for public sector workers to see their pensions reduced?
As the number of final salary pension schemes in the UK private sector continues to fall, with many believing that final salary schemes will have gone over the next decade, the government's announcement regarding public-sector final salary pension schemes has been well received. It seems that Gordon Brown has finally realised the immense cost of funding these public-sector final salary schemes from taxpayer's money and the ongoing liabilities these arrangements are building for the future.
However, various financial newspapers have today highlighted the fact that many people who work in the public sector do so on a wage which is less than the equivalent in the private sector but obviously there are better pension arrangements. If this is the case, and the figures seem to suggest this is correct, then ultimately a reduction in their pension arrangements could see them disadvantaged on two fronts. As the UK government begins its investigation into public-sector final salary pension schemes we should see more figures starting to appear in the press in the weeks and months to come.
Whatever the outcome of the UK government's investigation into the pension sector it seems almost inevitable, unless Gordon Brown were to rescind the various tax changes he introduced 10 years ago, that final salary pension schemes will soon become a thing of the past.
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