Well, Amen to that!

Everyone deserves a decent pension. Who could possibly, rationally, quibble with that one? As I pen this piece, on the very day of the largest mobilisation of dissent 'in a generation' (quoth the media), I am both stunned at the uncritical repetition of this kind of sentiment, the lack of any kind of intelligent interpretation or analysis by mainstream media, and the blindingly obvious fact that, when it comes to pensions, all of us (public and private sector) have exactly the same challenges to face up to.

I think that I 'deserve' a decent pension. I work longer hours than most public sector workers that I know. I don't get paid leave for holidays or sickness, as do my public sector friends. I have not, over the years, received automatic inflationary wage increases or 'increments' (I appreciate that times are tough right now). My employer does not, magically, divert taxpayers monies into my pension scheme in order to fund an indexed benefit, usually expressed in guaranteed (defined) terms. During difficult times, like most employers that I know, I make sure that I take the hit, rather than my (excellent) staff, who have continued to receive inflationary salary rises over the years, irrespective of market conditions.

On balance, I do not think that I am less deserving of this 'decent pension' that Unison members are talking about, but I would like to see a little more rational reflection on the matter, plus some sort of evidence that those who have agitated for this industrial action do actually understand that, in straitened economic times all of us do face the same challenges (fat-cats excepted, of course). For, with or without the recession, we would all be living longer, and so the underlying costs of pension-funding will have risen dramatically. And with or without the current state of the economy, investment yields have, generally, been significantly lower than they were in the 1980s - which means all of us need to put more into our pensions if we mean to retire on the same standard of living.

None of this is rocket-science. I find myself, whilst sympathetic to people's disappointments and aspirations, mystified as to why it is that there should be those who live in a kind of bubble, which, apparently, conveys a kind of immunity to the same factors that afflict the rest of us? Today, as I drive past pickets and demonstrations, and see my household refuse uncollected, it does feel as if I belong to a kind of less-deserving underclass.

P.S.

Since penning the above thoughts, Jeremy Clarkson has managed to dominate the headlines, having uttered some rather ill-considered sentiments on The One Show. It is unfortunate that this kind of thoughtless and tasteless comment will no doubt help to obscure the real issues facing the nation's pensions and the public finance implications, and provide some moral highground to inhabitants of bubbles.

If you would like to read up a little further on the parlous state of public-sector pension schemes, then you may wish to download the latest TPA report summary by clicking here.

Kevin Moss, 30/11/2011