Submission 137
April 2008
Green Paper submission
I have just recently retired from the Civil Service, on a pension of €500 net per week. This pension contains no allowance for my wife, who has no income of her own. My pension is my only income.
I feel most aggrieved that my wife who gave up her career 35 years ago to become a full time homemaker, will not qualify for any pension of her own, because her income is presumed to be half of mine, i.e. €250 per week. However in the case of a woman whose husband has the same income (€500 per week) but made up of a Social Welfare pension of €220 per week and a works pension of €280 per week, the Social Welfare pension is disregarded from the means test, and only half of the works pension ( €140 per week ) is assessed as means. In that case the woman would receive a Social Welfare pension of €102 per week.
The fact that two women with the exact same net household means are means tested differently is blatant discrimination. No court could uphold such practice.
As a solution to this unjust anomaly, I would suggest that the Dept. Of Social Welfare consider any of the following three options.
Treat these homemakers as individuals in their own right, and means test them on their own means only, and not on their spouse’s means.
Or
Grant them full PRSI contributions (not credits) for periods spent as homemakers regardless of the 1994 Homemakers Act.
Or
At the very least these homemakers should receive a pension equal to the Adult Dependant Allowance accompanying the Old Age Pension.
