There must be a doubt over whether people are building up sufficient personal pensions to have any prospect of getting off means-tested benefits, let alone having a good income when they retire. One of the reasons why I want to see reform of state benefits is that I think people need a good basic foundation to their income from social security benefits.

It is not just that individuals are not saving enough for themselves. For me, as a man, one of the most embarrassing things you will find repeated in Lord Turner's report is that when men with a DC pension make the choice between converting it in to an annuity just for them, or a joint life annuity for themselves and their likely widow, 80% of men opt for a pension that only covers them. If we want to have funded savings as an alternative to dependents on benefits we have to have some model of funded saving that helps women as well as men.