There’s a current mismatch between policy, practice and how pension outcomes are determined.
New State Pension entitlement is built from individual NI records and, in most cases, people can’t build entitlement from a spouse as under the previous system. Workplace pensions have shifted. In DB, dependent support is often built in, but in DC, outcomes depend on your own pay and contributions and the level of spousal protection depends on retirement choices. AE also follows individual earnings. If pay is low or part time, people are more likely to miss out. Use of band earnings reduces contributions, particularly for low earners.
But work and care policy still pushes women and men into different working patterns. Maternity leave and pay are longer and higher at the start than paternity leave. Shared parental leave exists, but take up is low. So, the default is still that mothers step back from paid work, and fathers don’t. Flat shared parental pay also makes it harder for the higher earner to take time off.
Childcare adds pressure in the same direction. Funded hours exist, but eligibility, cost top-ups, and limits in supply can still make full time work hard to sustain. When something has to give, it is often women’s paid work.
Some parts of the system recognise care. NI credits protect State Pension records during some periods out of paid work but that doesn’t protect workplace pension contributions or pay progression.
So, we have a mismatch. Pension outcomes are based on individual earnings, while policy and practice steer people into unequal work patterns. If we want individual pension outcomes, we need care policy and workplace practice that make equal sharing realistic. If we accept that caring will stay uneven, we need pension protection that reflects it.
That is the current choice. We need to be clear about what we expect from people, and then ensure policy matches that expectation.
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