I devoted my life to caring but lost out on pension

Jenny Whinnett gave up work and spent 20 years caring for her profoundly disabled son

When Jenny Whinnett's son died at the age of 21, she was hit by unimaginable grief but also suffered a stark financial blow.

Her son Craig had profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) and needed round-the-clock care, which meant that Jenny had to leave her career in management when he was born.

Like hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers, Jenny lost out on years of income from employment but she missed out on workplace pension which would have helped her through retirement.

Now a charity is calling for full-time carers to get greater support, including the equivalent of an occupational pension to avoid them facing poverty at retirement age.

Carers Scotland told the BBC many are left in poverty in old age because they do not have access to a workplace pension.

This is despite taking on a full-time role that saves the public purse billions of pounds.

Jenny, from Montrose, who is now 62, says her entire financial support network was taken away almost overnight when she lost her son.

"You're left there to pick up the pieces," she told BBC Scotland.

She says she lost 20 years of workplace pension contributions in order to look after Craig, creating significant hardship in her retirement years and making her feel "penalised for caring".

"We need to think that come the day we are pensionable age, that we're not going to be living in poverty," she says.

Fiona Collie, from Carers Scotland, said many are left in poverty in old age because they do not have access to a workplace pension

The Scottish government estimates that unpaid care is currently saving the country £12.8bn per year in social care costs plus £320m in health care costs.

Campaigners argue some of this money should be used to support carers to ensure they do not end up in poverty when they are older.

"About three-quarters of carers say they will be reliant on their state pension when they retire, and only very small numbers would have an occupational pension on top of that," says Carers Scotland head of policy Fiona Collie.

"They stop being eligible for carers allowance because it's an overlapping benefit, so the minute they reach retirement age the carers allowance stops."

Carers allowance currently stands at £76.75 a week but Ms Collie says that only one in 10 carers are actually eligible even for this payment.

"There's a range of qualifying criteria," she said.

"You can't be in full-time education, you can only earn up to about £130 a week after deductions, and if you have any overlapping benefit like a retirement pension then you're not eligible at all."

Carers allowance is currently being devolved to the Scottish government, and some changes are being made from launch, including a 'Carers Allowance Supplement' which the Scottish government claims will mean that eligible carers receive up to £540 a year more than those in the rest of the UK.

Ms Collie says: "We've certainly said to government that we feel carers should be able to have a pension and be able to retire earlier, but also receive significantly more support in auto-enrolling to make sure they can augment their state pension, because there's no guarantee they'll get a full one."

Michelle Miller gave work to care full-time for her disabled son Beinn

Michelle Miller, who was a midwife in the NHS before having to give up work to care full-time for her disabled son Beinn, says she has missed out on almost 20 years of pension contributions due to her caring role.

Like Jenny, Michelle believes that carers should be entitled to some form of occupational pension to reflect the full-time role they do.

"I receive my small amount of carers allowance, but the weight continues to be on the other people within your family," she told BBC Scotland.

"My husband's pension is going to have to be where we're at, and it worries me, and it's amplified now because of the cost-of-living crisis."

Michelle, from Cairneyhill near Dunfermline, had initially hoped to return to work but says there wasn't enough alternative support available for Beinn.

"Perhaps if I had access to respite, I could have done something and gone back to work in some capacity because I absolutely loved my job," she says.

"They're crying out for midwives," she adds.

"If I'd have been working in the NHS still and had a full-time job and a pension that reflected that, what's different? If you're doing a full-time job then shouldn't you be remunerated for that in terms of your pension?," Michelle says.

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville acknowledged the "incredible contribution" carers make to the community and that the pandemic and then cost-of-living crisis have made the pressures they face tougher than ever.

"By the end of this year, we will begin the roll out of Carer Support Payment to replace the UK government's Carer's Allowance which will extend entitlement to many unpaid carers who wish to study full-time, reducing barriers to education and helping to provide more stable incomes," she said.

Ms Somerville added: "Our Carer Positive initiative is working to improve awareness and flexibility of unpaid carers in the workplace and there are now more than 490,000 employees working in 250 Carer Positive organisations across Scotland."