Pensions Bill

I entirely agree. My noble friend is right that if that person has had a job there will be 12 years under the new regime under which they will acquire HRP protection as of right. They may at that point, for three, five or eight years—who knows—be in the labour market. However, the average age to become a grandparent is 49, which means half of those people become grandparents before that age and half after it. Obviously, some will be caring after the age of 60 or 65, but none the less a substantial number of women will find that the whole decade of their lives between the ages of 50 and 60 is taken up in childcare. I do not doubt that some women will be able to cobble together a 30-year record in bits and bobs, and I am delighted if they can. But they will not know that necessarily until the day before they retire, and they will not be able to buy additional years, which would allow us to help them to overcome the problem.