Christmas Bonus

We've had ours this morning. We usually give it to charity. I'm sure it's a little help to some pensioners.

Retire in three weeks so I’ll look forward to it next year.

We lag behind Spain. I used to see coaches arriving at the Costa del Sol resort of Málaga disgorging hoardes of pensioners in the winter months. The hotels were glad of the trade (even though heavily discounted for groups).

This from Google:
Spanish pensioners receive an extra "Christmas bonus" which is one of two mandatory annual bonuses, called pagas extraordinarias, equivalent to one month's pension.

This payment is typically made around November 25th and is in addition to the 12 monthly pension payments, totaling 14 payments per year. The Christmas payment is usually double what a pensioner receives in a standard month.

In 2024/25 it cost more than £130 million to pay. It is however a contributory benefit (unlike the Winter Fuel Payment) that people have paid NIC towards else it would have been abolished years ago.

When it was introduced in 1972 it was more than a week's basic state pension for a single person. Now it’s little more than a token but you can bet that any move to abolish it would be met with outrage.

Mine arrived too…..means I can donate a little more to local charities in lieu of sending Christmas cards

Mine hasn’t arrived yet do I get 25p more for being over 80
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