Stooge my mother has contributed for but the years where she was prt time are NOT allowed!! So she LOSES out by looking after her own mother, saving this country huge amounts of money and gets 15 years pension. Now she's looking after my terminally ill father and willno doubt loss out again as she'll get nothing to help from the state.

We too believe in looking after our own that why my nanna's house was sold, my parents extended and converted for a severely disabled person.The least this damn country can do is recognise my mum's sacrifice of still working whilst looking after a seriously ill person, who couldn't be taken care of by the state, who the state didn't give a damn about either. A state that left my poor nan starving in hospital as staff believed she could feed herself when she couldn't. A staff who scolded her with tea because again they wouldn't have it that she couldn't hold hot fluids in her hands. So my mum took over all the care,the washing the feeding the dressing the meds everything. And now again for my Dad.

My grandparents also worked full time all their lives and got very little back when they needed it. Someone somewhere is profitting handsomely at the price of others.My mother deserves a full 25years pension that's what she's worked, to lose out by being part time to care for family members is part of the reason in this country why the homes are so full.

I don't know why she was not allowed to contribute as a part timer.  Apart from my years spent training I have only ever worked for the NHS part time and consequently have a much smaller pension.  People who do not have a works pension can, of course, take out a private one.

I too have contributed for years and also had a time when I didn't earn enough to contribute to the pension scheme due to caring for my husband who was terminally ill. My last pension forecast (public sector) shows that I will receive £2,000 per annum which is not a lot to live off and certainly isn't the amount I was forecast to receive when I joined the scheme many, many years ago. BUT if the money isn't available to maintain the pension funds then it simply isn't there and in the present economic climate cuts are having to be made everywhere. I should have retired in 5 years time but the changes to the retirement age means I now have 12 years before I can retire which should help to increase my pension fund a little.

With a state retirement pension you are given credits - up to a maximum amount - for periods spent looking after children or being a carer but you have to remain in their scheme and not opt out of it. Private/public sector pension schemes do not have that facility and you either pay into it and receive a pension or you don't contribute and get nothing in return - rather like paying an insurance............. if you don't pay the premium you can't make a claim.

I sympathise with those who remain at home to care for relatives who otherwise would need to be cared for by the state - as I said before I have been in exactly that position - but if there is a limited amount of money available there is no alternative other than to restrict the amounts people will receive when they retire.

I will probably have to sell my house to fund my retirement - not something I want to do as we spent 25 years working on it and getting it how we wanted it and it holds many  memories for me but in reality that will probably be the route I have to take and although it's not what I would choose to do if my pension is too small for me to exist on then there isn't an alternative. Not my fault, nor anybody else's,  it's just how it is.