Author Archives: wendy
Full state pension for stay-at-home mothers and carers
Stay-at-home mothers and carers will receive a full state pension for the first time under a radical overhaul of the country’s retirement system, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Millions of mothers who have chosen to take time out of work will no longer be penalised once they are pensioners, Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, has announced.
However, the overhaul is expected to hit wealthier workers, as the state second pension will be scrapped.
At the moment, people who do not work for 30 years do not qualify for the full basic state pension. Under the reforms, mothers and carers will be treated as if they had worked throughout their lives, benefiting them by £2,000 a year.
Mr Duncan Smith said women would be the “major winners” in the reformed system, which will mean that everyone who works or looks after others will receive a flat-rate payment worth at least £140 a week.
The measure will be applied to women who retire from 2015, giving an average of £40 extra a week to mothers who took time out of work. Currently, they receive a reduced entitlement for each year out of employment.
£2m service to aid dementia sufferers
DEMENTIA sufferers and their families are to get help from a new support service being launched in South Tyneside
By VERITY WARD
Published on Saturday 12 May 2012 07:20
The new initiative, called the Memory Protection Service, aims to provide access to information, support, early diagnosis, treatment and care for people with the condition along with their families and carers.
The service, which will cost £2m a year to run, is being paid for by NHS South of Tyne and Wear and run by Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, which specialises in mental health and disability care.
