Cabbie21
A relative of mine has an incomplete NI record( like many women) but she thinks by the time she retires there will be no state pensions anyway, so she is not going to pay voluntary contributions, believing it will be money down the drain.
I wonder whether she will be proved right?
It's tricky, isn't it? I can understand someone not wanting to throw money down the drain (and the government has shown that it will renege on its promises, so it's not unreasonable to think that they will do so again), but at the same time, if people opt out of paying contributions it seems unfair that their pension will be topped up to the level that it would have been if they had paid in.
If someone is looking after a sick relative, disabled child or foster children do they not get their NI paid? It seems most unfair if they don't get at least the same deal as people who choose not to work when their children are at school. I would have thought that carer's allowance or similar would apply - if it doesn't, it should, IMO.
I have gaps in my record, as although I worked full-time (and paid NI at the full rate), I was on temporary contracts which ran from September to July, so did not count as full years.
Meanwhile, the occupational pension scheme was only open to people (mostly women) who were permanent staff. I am now paying voluntary contributions to bring my state pension to the level that it would have been had I been on a permanent contract, although when I was on the temporary ones I paid the same NI across the year as FT staff - my salary was the same, but paid over 10 months instead of 12. My occupational pension is significantly lower than it would have been if I had been allowed to join earlier, too - I lost out on 10 years of that, simply because of the type of contract I was on.
It is difficult not to feel resentful when people refuse to pay, knowing that they will get their pension topped up in the end. OTOH, people can't be left with nothing to live on, so what's the solution?