As many as 20 million Britons could be left significantly worse off by changes to the state pension, it was claimed this week.
It is thought that the new rules, set to be introduced next April, will mean that many people’s retirement income is reduced by around £1,400 a year.
The Government has previously emphasised the benefits that the new arrangements would bring for the self-employed, carers and stay-at-home mums.
But there are fears the rules will cause a problem for those at the start or middle of their working lives.
Parliament’s Work and Pensions Committee is now set to hold an inquiry, which will examine the consequences of the forthcoming reforms.
Labour MP Frank Field, who chairs the committee, said: “The early signs are that some groups do stand to be worse off by a hefty sum compared to the current system and, as things stand, this might come as a nasty shock to them when they retire.
“We hope our evidence will throw more light on those groups who stand to ‘win’ or ‘lose’ following the introduction of the new single-tier pension.
“We will seek evidence of whether or not the Government is communicating properly in particular with these groups so they know where they stand and, where possible, adjust their saving patterns.”
The Department for Work and Pensions has played down the concerns, but Pensions Minister Baroness Altmann has admitted that more needs to be done to raise awareness of the changes.
“Huge efforts have been put into reforming the mind-blowingly complicated state pension system that exists today into something that, over time, will be clearer and fairer for everybody,” she said.
“But the job of explaining to people how the reforms will affect them hasn’t been done well enough.”
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