|
THE FACTS ABOUT FROZEN PENSIONS |
A quick summary.
Other files on this site can give you more details.
| In which countries are pensions frozen | Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South
Africa, Most Commonwealth Countries, Many others. See below |
| In which countries are pensions indexed (apart from Britain) | United States of America, The Philippines, Israel, Turkey, The European Union, including new members. In total, nearly half of all expatriate pensioners. |
| How much would it cost to unfreeze pensions | Less than 1% of the annual bill for
pensions |
| What is the source of the money used to pay pensions. | The National Insurance Fund, built up from member contributions, including contributions from those who are now frozen |
| How much money is in the NIF | Enough surplus funds to unfreeze our pensions for the next 80 years |
| Is the NIF surplus invested | Yes, mainly in gilt-edged government securities |
| Is there a pot of money set aside for me | No. As with life insurance, funds are pooled. But that does not mean you have no right to your pension when you reach retirement age |
| Don't they need a reciprocal agreement before they can unfreeze | No. A simple stroke of the pen could do it |
Other frozen countries with many guest workers living and voting in the UK
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Antigua, St Vincent and the Grenadines, other Caribbean countries.
Many of these resident workers have voting
rights, and researchers tell us that the proportion of them actually voting is
higher than for British-born voters. Also, many of them have a long-term plan to
retire in the country of their birth, thereby depriving them of indexation.
Here is a list of frozen and indexed countries, from
DWP sources:
Further facts about frozen pensions