Come on, most of the people in the public sector work their whole lives on low wages and no chance of any bonuses or massive promotion. Think of all those NHS nurses that can't afford to buy a house near where they work! There have to be some benefits to working in the public sector, and pensions offer an incentive. We can't all be city boys!

I find it amazing that the ordinary, everyday person who has put money away for a pension has seen the potential return absolutely plummet over the last 10 years.
The reasons for this include the poor investment performance in recent years, the reduced payouts on annuities and, to lesser effect Gordon Brown stopping the reclaiming dividend tax credits.
Meanwhile, anyone in a final salary scheme, magically escapes all the this that us mere mortals have to put up with.
The public sector schemes will increase in value when they are being paid. Most people with ordinary personal pensions settle for a non-escalating pension, because their meager pension would be reduced even further!
But the additional whammy is that someone has to pay the extra money required to fund the final salary schemes. So not only do the ordinary people lose out on pensions, but they have to pay council tax and other taxes to finance these.
Surely this cannot continue?

A RELATIVE OF MINE SPENT 20 YEARS CLEARING OTHER PEOPLES RUBBISH AND HIS REWARD IS A PENSION OF LESS THAN £350 PER MONTH. I CONTRIBUTE IN EXCESS OF £100 INTO MY PUBLIC SECTOR PENSION AND WHETHER THE GOVT CHOOSE TO INVEST THAT OR NOT IS NOT THE ISSUE. TOO MANY PEOPLE LIVE ON THE NEVER NEVER THESE DAYS WITHOUT ANY ATTEMPT TO SAVE FOR THE FUTURE. THEY COMPLAIN THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO SAVE BUT HAVE SUFFICIENT FUNDS TO PURCHASE NEW CARS BIGGER HOUSES AND FREQUENT HOLIDAYS AND NOW THE NATION HAS COME UNSTUCK. PLEASE STOP USING THE SAME OLD NUGGET THAT SOMEHOW ALL WILL BE WELL IF THE PUBLIC SECTOR PENSIONS SUFFER IN THE SAME WAY AS PRIVATE SECTOR AND THEN WE CAN ALL LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER!!!