Friday 26th May 2006
The government has unveiled its pensions white paper in its attempt to deal with the countrys growing pensions crisis.
Fears have been raised that with an aging population there would not be enough money to meet the countrys pensions needs, leading to the governments proposal that the retirement age for a state pension be raised to 68 by 2050.
The white paper also calls for state pensions to rise in line with average earnings.
A National Pensions Savings Scheme will be set up, whereby three per cent of an employees earnings will go towards their pension, topped up by a contribution of the equivalent of four per cent from the government and the employer (one per cent from the former and three per cent from the latter).
The Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA) has said that it is "happy" with the proposal for the state pension, but that the government needs to "move quickly to offer new encouragement for employers to avoid good [pensions] schemes". 
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