The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1932. THE STATE AND ITS PENSION FUNDS.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 11737, 8 September 1932, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1932. THE STATE AND ITS PENSION FUNDS.

Amongst tlio subjects which it is expected will engage ilic attention, ot Parliament during the coining session is that of the position of the various State superannuation funds. This is a problem which is now occasioning tlio government grave concern and it is understood that none of the schemes —Public Service, Teachers or Railways—is to-day on a sound actuarial footing. Outside the services referred to, it is, perhaps, not widely appreciated lioiw extensive the schemed have now become. At the outset, all three were of only reasonable dimensions. According to the latest official figures, however, the number of contributors as at March 31, 1930, in the various schemes • was as under— Public Service, 18,197; Railways, 13,870; and Teachers 9,900. Taking the yeair in question, payments by contributors to the fund were:-—Public Service, £271,686; Railways, £170,686; Teachers, £143,392. In addition the government subsidies (were as under: Public Service £101,361; Railways £170,000 and Teachers £126,106. In each case the amount paid in. pensions fell below the aggregate of contributions and subsidies, hut the various' funds are not in a- healthy state, owing to various reasons, one of which is that, in all the circumstances, the amounts of the State subsidies have

not always' been, adequate, and another that the' post-war Uses in salaries liavo led to much greater inroads tipon the funds than had -been provided against. As hiattei's how stand, the State finds it difficult to provide the £400,000 per annum required in the shape of subsidies for .the three funds and tlio contributors thereto reckon that they have a substantial grievance against the government iii connection iwith its loose policy which has resulted in the funds becoming unstable. It is patent that the government erred in omitting in earlier years to provide a sufficiently large annual subsidy to meet the liability which arose on account of the hack service of members who linked up upon the inauguration of the schemes. As is well-known, the general public docs not look with favor upon these superannuation funds, for it regards the State’s annual liability under the schemes as being unreasonably large. On tile other hand, tho present contributors to the funds reckon that wdiat they are required to contribute is quite sufficient, if tlio government would only build up the schemes to the extent iwhich was omitted to ho done in the past. When the matter comes up for consideration during the now session, one tiling is certain; and that is that it will he made plain that, in order to place the funds on a .sound footing, much heavier State subsidies will require to bo found for some years to come. T]iis fact lias been emphasised on a number of occasions by the Government Actuary in triennial reports on the schemes. It is, of manse, not known what are tho government’s intentions on the matter, but it bas bad before it important recommendations reached on the subject by the National Expenditure Commission. In the past, t]io maximum retiring allowance has, unquestionably, been too high and some further move in that regard is almost certain to eventuate. What may also he intended is to re-raise the retiring age. A. point that requires to be elucidated is as to wdiat extent moneys which .should have been allowed to, accumulate have been nsec! to meet current needs.