Pensions Update

In 2005, one member circulated a simple questionnaire to about 174 Broken Rites members of whom 58 members (or 33%) replied. Only nine members were in receipt of a proportion of their ex-husband's pension. Our member felt this was most unsatisfactory and wrote to the church of England Pensions Board on our behalf in July 2006.

In the reply, the Pension Board gave statistics showing pension provision for divorced clergy wives between 1995-2005

1. Off-setting when previous pension rights are left untouched and the wife has no share.

2. Ear-marking (introduced in 1996) when a proportion is paid to the former spouse. 

3. Sharing (introduced in 2000) when, at the time of divorce,  separate pension funds are provided for each person.  As it provides a clean break, it is becoming more popular than earmarking.

However, .we do not have any data showing how trends with respect to pension earmarking or sharing is expressed as a percentage of the overall level of clergy divorce. We will seek clarification on this point.