Pensions minister Steve Webb has admitted over 500,000 women would be excluded from NEST under plans to raise the earnings threshold for inclusion from £5,035 to £7,500.
His comments came after questioning from shadow pensions minister Rachel Reeves. Webb is expected to announce the threshold will be lifted to £7,500 at a press conference at NEST at 9.30am this morning. Plans to introduce a three-month grace period before employees are enrolled, with an option for them to join if they wish to, are also anticipated, as part of the DWP's report on the NEST review. However, Webb's figures show that raising the threshold to £7,000 would penalise 500,000 women, or up to one million women if set at £8,000. A threshold of £11,000 would exclude up to tw...
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