International elder law: The future of elder law

Abstract

Ms. Carson was born in 1931, and lived all her adult life in Britain. Throughout her working years, she paid her social security taxes as required. In 1990, she became a resident of South Africa, after immigrating there. Between 1989 and 1999, Ms. Carson continued to pay her social security payments in Britain, even though she was not required to do so, in order to continue to accrue her pension rights. In 2000, she became eligible for a weekly pension payment of GBP 67.50. However, since that time, the amount was not updated and remained at its nominal level. Had it been updated from time to time, as was done for all older people living in Britain, she would now be receiving GBP 95 per week. Till 2010, Ms. Carson lost 28% of the value of her pension allowance. She believed that her rights had been violated and she had suffered discrimination. She sued the British government with the demand to update her pension as was customary for all older persons living in Britain. Her lawsuit was rejected by all the courts in Britain.