There can hardly be a more basic misunderstanding of The Times’ policy as regards adequacy of pensions than that which the Alliance of Pensioners’ Organisations set out in a letter to this newspaper a few days ago (August 21) when it replied to two editorials on the subject. It is simply absurd, to put it mildly, to say, as the alliance’s honorary secretary did, that The Times appeared to approve a policy of bare subsistence. Nothing is further from the truth.

All that the newspaper has been insisting upon for quite a long time now is the need to ensure the sustainability of the welfare system, a matter that has been preoccupying not just this newspaper but also all those who, over the years, have closely monitored the island’s economy and the rapid growth of expenditure on welfare. This is what had driven the government to launch the reform of the pension system in the first place.

It is not a question of sustainability at the cost of adequacy, as the alliance mistakenly interpreted the newspaper’s argument, but sustainability to ensure the healthy operation of the system for, if the system is not sustainable, how can the state pay out a pension, let alone an adequate one? As The Times said in one of the editorials, “the two would surely have to go together”.

The Prime Minister has been saying lately that the real challenge is not the financial sustainability of pensions but their adequacy. Picking up the argument, this newspaper has, of course, agreed that pensions ought to be adequate; who would not? But, at the same time, it felt that of greater concern at this point in time was the sustainability of the system.

This is why calls have been made for progress in the implementation of the rest of the pension reform, if this is at all possible at this particular time. It is also why, like many others, this newspaper has called for greater efforts to raise the employment rate and generate greater economic growth.

Maybe, too, the alliance has missed seeing the recent leader titled Getting More People To Join The Workforce, when the point is made that, unless the country improves its employment rate, it risks seeing economic and social convergence with the more prosperous EU countries becoming unattainable. It said: “If the economy is to grow, we need to attract more people to the workplace and make sure that they stay there for longer. Otherwise our GDP per capita – an indication used to measure prosperity – will only grow very sluggishly.” So, this newspaper is in perfect agreement with the alliance when it says that if the total participation rate is increased, if arrangements are in place to raise substantially the female participation rate and if the concept of an all inclusive society is reflected in keeping more seniors economically active, then sustainability would not be a problem. It is naturally also right in saying that policies ensuring job creation are the answer.

But if all this takes time to bring about in normal circumstances, it is naturally even harder to do so in difficult times. When even the maximum a pensioner can get under the system is not enough to cope with the rising cost of living, working towards an improvement is an ongoing challenge. But the system has to be financially ­sustainable.