Pensions Bill

Yes, but the point is that they may start caring at 50; they would hope to finish at 55, but their daughter may have another child and they may find themselves in a further caring situation. At 58 they cannot buy back the years that they have missed at 50 or 51, as my noble friend explained so clearly earlier. I do not doubt that some grandparents will be able to cobble together some coverage, but I am concerned about the ones who cannot or will not. This amendment is not the best way in which to deal with the issue, but it may be the only way in which to raise it, given the Government’s reluctance to address other ways in which to deal with grandparents’ problems. Grandparents who take on the bulk of childcare, possibly for a decade or more, for their children, lose out on their pension rights and, because they are not allowed to register as childminders, lose out on childcare tax credit, too. I am not comfortable that the amendment is the right form for this proposal because it would introduce technical difficulties about transferring across, but I am very grateful for the support that I have received. It has been a very wide-ranging debate. There is a problem to be addressed here. I am not saying that this amendment is the right way in which to resolve that problem—I am not persuaded that it is myself—but there is a problem here that women, particularly women in rural communities, low-paid women, parents of lone parents and so on, take on a responsibility for which they pay a very high cost. Some of them will find themselves without a full basic state pension when they enter official retirement. I hope that my noble friend will find ways in which to address this problem.