Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Men in workplace pension schemes may still get gender-based annuities despite an EU ruling forcing providers to offer unisex rates from December.
European lawmakers last year outlawed insurance companies from offering a different level of pension to men and women based purely on their sex, with the new rules set to come into force on 21 December. The divergence happens now because, on average, women live longer than men, which means insurers are willing to offer males a higher retirement income than females.
However, the ruling was based on a challenge to the EU's goods and services directive which includes personal pensions but not occupational pensions, where a trustee buys an annuity on behalf of the scheme's members.
John Lawson, head of pensions policy at Standard Life, warned that some insurers could therefore still offer annuities on a gender basis after 21 December.
He said they could target specific sectors traditionally dominated by men, such as construction.
Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at Hargreaves Lansdown, has raised the issue with UK regulators.
"The banning of gender pricing in annuities was already bad news for savers without adding this unnecessary confusion," he said.
"A system which delivers different outcomes depending on whether you happen to be in an occupational scheme or a contract-based scheme doesn't make a lot of sense."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments