There is another wrinkle.
Recent years have seen major UK pension funds shift out of equities into long-dated and index-linked gilts, in the belief that this allows them to match future pension obligations more accurately against current assets, and reduce some of the risks associated with increased longevity.
The result has been that a growing proportion of future private-sector pension obligations is no longer funded by long-term investment in wealth-creating private enterprise, but instead by IOU’s written by today’s government on behalf of tomorrow’s taxpayers.
Whatever the actuarial niceties may be, the programme is fiscally, socially and politically deeply flawed, and will cost our children, and their children, and their children’s children, dear.

Jan Luthman, Buxted, East Sussex

It would be interesting to see what proportion of public v private sector employees earn enough to pay the higher rate of tax, I suspect that the private sector wins hands down. If we paid public sector workers the same as the private sector then we would all have to pay much more in tax .
However, in my experience as a relatively well paid public sector employee (relative to others in the public sector) then most staff are paid much less than their equivalents in the private sector. Yes, there are exceptions but these are the minority.

J Newton, Chelmsford, Essex, UK

This issue will never be addressed until we have a government in power that is willing to stand up to the inevitable strike action that will follow any amendments to public sector pensions and pay.

This require Thatcheresque action to address the problem that will cripple the company's economy for years to come.

The current fix is an open door immigration policy to increase tax revenue but this is short termism in the extreme.

We are already seeing the burden on the infrastructure this head in the sand approach is causing.

Private sector workers will have to work till their 68 with a pension pittance. Public sector workers can retire at 50ish on a big fat pension. Funded by the taxes of the majority.

Do something about it now.

Si, Reading,

There appears to be a grouse among private sector employees that their counterparts in the public sector get much better definite pension benefits and lead a worry free after retirement life. To some extent this is true. But consider the fact that during their working years, the public sector employees never get the kind of salaries/income that private sector employees are getting. Thus the public sector employees do never have a surplus to save for the retirement. Their pay scales never match that of private sector colleagues. The private sector employees are and have always been capable of putting away a part of their income during their working life aside for the retirement period and have invested the savings in housing, shares etc. Public sector workers have never had this option of excess income over current minimum required funds during their working lives. There is no point in crying by private sector employees. They shd save during working life and invest wisely .

C.N.Sanjeevi, Chennai 600 086, India.

I have witnessed this situation arising at first had as I complete a pay and benefits survey for a particular retail sector every year - for the past 15 years. And I am also the Chair of Governors for a school. The retail sector I research employs 600,000 people and more than half have no company pensions at all, and the remainder are on pretty poor deals. Public sector pensions, on the other hand, are incredibly generous. This is producing a nation of 'haves' and 'have nots', which will come to haunt us all in the future. It will be the stuff of civil unrest.

Superior Analyst, Wiltshire

Chris Oakham, Westbury, Wiltshire

Public sector workers years ago were underpaid when compared with the private sector. One of the attractions of joining the public sector however was that they enjoyed other perks such as better sick leave, better holidays and of course security of employment and superior pensions. However most public sector employees are now paid on a par with the private sector. The only fair way of dealing with this is to improve the state pension wholesale by increasing contributions (and hence benefits) for everyone. (Not relying on the fall back of the minimum pension guarantee, which means that there is no incentive to make provision for retirement and old age.) Just like now there should be a ceiling on pension pots and any tax relief on contributions should be limited to the basic tax rate, not the higher rates. Of course this will never happen as too many of our leaders and their allies are enjoying just his anomaly. Just look at the Parliamentary pension arrangements of our 'leaders'

Diddley Do, Liverpool,

I agree totally with the Liberal Democrats - this is theft on a grand scale - theft from struggling private sector employees to fund the long pensionable years of public sector people.

Carol Cole, Birmingham, England