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thomas davison

Pensions of 80,000 retired public sector workers are higher than the average salary paid to private employee
By Becky Barrow
PUBLISHED: 21:20, 9 May 2012 | UPDATED: 07:31, 10 May 2012

Around 80,000 retired public sector workers get a gold-plated pension which is bigger than the annual salary paid to the average British worker, a shocking report warned yesterday.
The findings highlight the eye-wateringly good pensions paid to Britain�s public sector workers when the majority of private sector workers get nothing when they retire.
The disclosure comes on the day that thousands of state workers are set to stage another strike in protest at Government plans to curb the lavishly generous schemes.
Split: It has been revealed that 80,000 retired public sector workers have a pension that is higher than the average salary paid to a private worker
Up to 400,000 workers, from immigration officers to off-duty police officers, will be involved in a wave of demonstrations across the UK.
Even after the changes, ministers insist workers will still be able to retire on a pension which most private sector workers could �only dream about�.
The explosive report, from The Intergenerational Foundation, says there are 78,186 retired public sector workers currently enjoying an annual pension worth more than �25,900 a year.
This is the average salary paid to a worker with a full-time job, while there are millions of part-time workers who earn a far lower salary.

The figures, obtained via a Freedom of Information request, show there is also a premier league of public sector pensioners.
Of the total of four million retired public sector workers who get a pension, there are also 12,263 who get a pension of between �50,000 and �100,000 and 148 who get more than �100,000.
To make matters worse, researchers only looked at the four big, �unfunded� public sector pension schemes - NHS, civil service, teachers and Armed Forces.
As a result, the actual number is likely to be even higher if other public sector pension schemes, such as the police, MPs and the judiciary, were included.
Angus Hanton said that the report demonstrated the scale of Britain's pensions apartheid
Angus Hanton, co-founder of The Intergenerational Foundation, said the report demonstrates the true scale of the �pension apartheid� in Britain.
He said: �This is not a matter of party politics but a matter of rising longevity, a demographic bulge and successive governments� continued assurance that public sector pensions are affordable, realistic and sustainable.
�Lord Hutton [the author of a major report into public sector pensions] clearly stated last year that a crisis was on its way. It is here.� It estimates around �1,200 billion of pension promises made to today�s public sector workers is the equivalent of a �45,000 bill for each family in this country.

The report, published yesterday, compares the public sector pension crisis to �an enormous Ponzi scheme� because there is no pot of money set aside to pay the ballooning bills.
Like a Ponzi scheme, it relies on new workers joining the State workforce and paying into their pension to help pay the retirement benefits of those who have retire.
The report states: �While many individual public sector pensions are small, some retired public sector worker benefit from an extremely large transfer of wealth from younger taxpayers.� It comes as the number of private sector workers with a gold-plated pension is set to collapse to an all-time low of �less than one million� by 2020, according to the Pensions Policy Institute.
In the 1960s, more than eight million workers in the private sector had a gold-plated pension, known as a �defined benefit� scheme, such as a final salary pension.
Today just 1.6million private sector workers have a defined benefit pension, which is still enjoyed by public sector workers, but will drop even lower over the next eight years.
Yesterday a Treasury spokesman said: �This highlights the need to put public service pensions on a sustainable footing.
�The Government�s reforms, based on Lord Hutton�s recommendations, will save the taxpayer tens of billions of pounds over the next few decades.
�Even after reforms public service pensions will remain amongst the very best available, with a guaranteed, index-linked pension in retirement.
�Those closest to retirement will be protected and the pension that most low and middle income earners receive on retirement will be at least as good, if not better, than now.

wow , eye watering amount of money , they certainly were good to themselves , pity the kids who are meant to pay for it cant get a job

Oh dear you are so sad , you've paid 6 to 6.5% of your salary into your pension fund! The truth is that public sector workers get on average a higher salary than their equivalents in the private sector. They work shorter hours. They enjoy longer holidays, and a range of other benefits ranging from flexitime to 14 days "sick leave" every year. Yet to be able to retire on an index-linked pension at the age of 65 would need pension contributions of between 33% and 50% of annual salary to purchase a private annuity of the same level as your pension. And that doesn't take into account the tax free retirement lump sum of twice annual salary which many public sector workers get in addition to their pension. A private pension saver can take 25% of their pension fund in cash on retirement but it comes OUT of their fund and their annuity is lower as a result. It is time public sector workers stopped believing the lies of their Unions and joined the real world

I can't think of any sector in public sector where the workers aren't failing the public. Immigration, health, police, education. the list goes on without there being any sign of them doing their job properly, for the benefit of the public.