Pensions, On-Call Firefighters, Childcare

Loading player...
When will you retire? And will you have enough money to live comfortably? Big questions and this week the government announced two major reviews to study them after concerns that today's workers will be poorer in retirement than their parents. The first is a revived Pension Commission with a wide remit. The second is a review into the state pension age. We'll speak to Pensions UK, which represents pension schemes that together provide a retirement income to more than 30 million people.

From September working parents of children aged 9 months to school age will get 30 hours of childcare funded by the Government. It simplifies the present system which has different rules at different ages and means working parents of children under three will potentially save thousands of pounds on the cost of childcare. Who is eligible and how does it work?

Thousands of people who were retained firefighters are being urged to claim pension payments worth thousands or tens of thousands of pounds. Retained or on-call firefighters generally work part-time. Sixteen thousand of their colleagues have already claimed but a further 10,000 could be eligible to buy back pensions after two legal changes in the past few years.

And some money saving tips for anyone going abroad for their summer holiday.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner
Researchers: Eimear Devlin and Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 26th July 2025)
23 Aug English United Kingdom Business

Other recent episodes

Money Box Live: What You Wish You'd Known

Dragons' Den investor and entrepreneur Deborah Meaden joins Felicity Hannah to look at the money wisdom and advice you wish you'd known when you were starting out. They hear from listeners who say they wish they'd known more about everything, from how to budget to asking for a pay rise…
26 Aug 29 min

Money Box Live: How to Improve Your Credit Score

Every adult has a credit score but you've been telling us the factors affecting it can be mystifying and frustrating. So in this edition of Money Box Live we've been digging into the inbox to answer your questions on credit scores. Whether you’re trying to get a mortgage or loan…
19 Aug 29 min

Money Box Live: Why Are Women Retiring with Less?

For every £1 a man has in his private pension pot a woman has just 42p according to research from pension company Royal London. When it comes to the State Pension, the gap has closed considerably for people retiring today. But women in their 80s are still getting up to…
12 Aug 29 min

Water Meters and Cash ISAs

Money Box can exclusively reveal there has been a sharp rise in the number of people applying to have water meters fitted to try to bring their bills down. The data has been shared with this programme by the Consumer Council for Water, the CCW, the which speaks for water…
8 Aug 25 min

Money Box Live: Losing Your Job

Unemployment recently rose to its highest level in almost four years. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate went up to 4.6 per cent in the three months to April, up from 4.5 per cent in the three months to March. That's the highest since the Summer of…
5 Aug 29 min