Cork and Kerry will not be ‘Fobbed Off’ by Government on Pension Rights

Published: Tuesday, November 04, 2008

This weekend, women from Kerry & Cork will join with the National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI), to host a seminar to highlight the injustice of the social welfare system in relation to pensions, for women in Ireland.

The seminar: 'Campaigning on Women's Pension Rights' will take place in Killarney on Saturday morning (8th November 2008). The NWCI has been campaigning for women to be treated more equitably in the social welfare system since 2001. The seminar will bring together women from Kerry and Cork to campaign for an end to the discrimination that women experience in the social welfare system.

Lack of an adequate pension leaves women vulnerable to poverty. In Ireland today, 45% of women aged 65 and older are at risk of poverty, compared to 34% of men.

Speaking ahead of the seminar, Orla O'Connor, Head of Policy explained: 'There are a number of ways in which women are systematically excluded from the Irish social welfare system'.

'Thousands of women cannot access the social welfare system because their work was not paid for - many have spent decades caring for children and elderly relatives - but this work is not recognised as 'paid employment' - and those affected have 'no stamps' when they come to pension age, meaning that they cannot register independently for a full pension in their own right, to support them financially in their older years', she continued.

'Many women are treated, within the social welfare system, as 'Qualified Adults'. 2008 figures show that there are 147,000 Qualified Adults in the Irish social welfare system. 95% of qualified adults are women. Qualified Adults can be vulnerable to violence, aggression, control and poverty, as they are dependent on their husband or spouse for their pension payments. Qualified adults are eligible for just 0.75% of the full payment, while the other partner receives 100% payment. However, eligibility does not always guarantee that the woman will receive the payment - the decision whether she does or not, rests with her husband or spouse', she further explained.

Another burning issue has been the 'Marriage Bar'. The NWCI has already received an unprecedented amount of correspondence from women who are now being discriminated against within the current social welfare system as a result of the 'Marriage Bar'. Many of these women were forced to give up paid employment as a result of the bar, which was introduced in 1932 and only lifted in 1973, therefore being directly excluded from the social welfare system and as a result, being denied a pension, in their own right. It will be an important success for women's equality when the cost to women of the Marriage Bar is fully acknowledged and compensated through retrospective justice.

It is of great concern to the NWCI that so many women are unaware of their economic situation, before they reach pension age. One of the issues identified already is the inaccessibility of the social welfare system, in terms of understanding how it works. The system needs to be explained in plain English and access to information about entitlements should be readily available to women. This information should be provided by government to women throughout their working lives and not simply when they are coming up to pension age.

Commenting on the regional relevance of the campaign, Ms O'Connor stated: 'It is hugely important for the NWCI that the 'Social Welfare Reform Campaign' has been adopted by so many women and women's organisations around the country. These women have made the campaign their own and are fighting for their pension rights on both a local and a national level.'

Ms O'Connor would like to take this opportunity to call on women who have experienced pension inequality because of the marriage bar to contact the NWCI. 'We would like to also use this seminar as a means to reach out to other women who have been affected as a result of the marriage bar. It is vital that these women's voices are heard and their cases are documented' she said.

In our current economic recession and global financial crisis, the opportunity arises for new economic and social systems to be developed which take true account of all forms of work which sustain this country. The NWCI is moving forward into 2009 with a full-on nationwide campaign for social welfare justice for women in Ireland. This seminar this weekend is important in that it marks the first step of this nationwide campaign. According to the women of Cork and Kerry, they will not be 'fobbed off' by the government and are demanding their entitlement to a full pension in their own right.