It will also intensify the turn to sources of profit overseas, where British Corporations already have more than 25 percent of their employment. The scale of the transfer of funds to the stock market will intensify the speculation and frenzy and add to its volatility. Already more than 50 percent of corporate securities are held by pension funds and insurance companies. Whereas in the mid 1960s pension funds held their shares for 23 years, now they only hold their shares for 18 months, in their drive for ever higher returns. Thus not only will the new arrangements, currently being discussed in all the advanced capitalist countries, make the income of retired workers dependent on the uncertainty of the stock market, they will lead to a huge increase in the rate of exploitation of the work force.
Capitalism has no answer to the needs of the elderly for a decent income in their retirement.
It demands the dismantling of the social provision of pensions, hitherto considered fundamental to any civilised society, and the purchase of a private pension as a commodity. The provision of an income for one's old age is now the personal responsibility of each individual. Workers will no longer be able to rely on the state to provide for their old age. What were considered social rights are no longer recognised as such. The WSWS invites your comments.