UK State Pension - Is it really enough?

Of course and many European countries do in fact do that.

Good point. I suppose one way to achieve minimum wage level could be by using a scheme (like Pension Credit) to bridge the gap for those on a lower income, rather than making it the norm for all. So those with a good occupational pension would not need to apply for the increase.

Yes most pensioners would love to get the minimum wage because it’s twice as much as we are expected to live on.

Some people are still unaware there are two state pension rates, the old rate is £50or £60 lower per week if retired before 2016 than the new state pension paid if retirement was post 2016. It makes a huge difference.

I worked snd contributed for 45 years ( the new pension only requires 30 years ). Each time there is percentage increase the gap between the two pensions widens. What message does that send,
Our pensions in this country are snd always have been , much lower than the rest of Western Europe. Yet we are or were the 5 th wealthiest nation.

Those who want to reduce the Welfare bill don’t seem to realise the huge amount of that which goes on Pensions.

I do think putting the threshold up for paying tax would help considerably.

It would help if the tax allowance was raised. We start paying tax as soon as we are over the £12,500. I pay much more tax than when I first retired. If the allowance had not been frozen, it would be around £16,000. That would give us around £700 extra income.
Food and fuel now take up a much higher percentage of my income than they used to. Those of us on a low income are hit harder by big inflation on essentials.

Just as matter of interest, at the current rate of inflation how long would it take the triple lock to get pension to minimum wage? (By which time of course minimum wage would be much higher...)

I’d love my SP to reach a 4 figure number per month. Annually, it’s way below this statement.
I believe current single person SP works out at approximately £12,500 annually.

The problem is whenever the sp is mentioned by the media it’s always the new rate and not the old rate that so many of us are on, which is quoted.

Absolutely not enough and certainly should be as close to minimum wage as possible!

Perhaps the real question is whether the state pension should be ‘enough’, with 70% of pensioners also receiving private pensions? Perhaps it should be that a level of ‘enough’ is set, and state plus private pension are taken into account, so that people whose income is below that threshold receive more from the state to ensure everybody has ‘enough’?

A good deal will surely depend on whether you need to pay rent, or have paid off a mortgage. Not to mention the rate of council tax - around here it’s one of the very highest in the country.
Obviously it’s never going to feel remotely generous, though.

And that’s why we have to have Universal Credit to top up the minimum wage and Pension Credit to top up the incomes for older people plus housing benefit, council tax relief and so on.

If all you have is SP, then you will almost certainly qualify for housing benefit if you rent and council tax benefit whether you are a tenant or owner occupier.

Some would argue that the minimum wage has been a bad thing because it has become what very profitable employees can get away with paying when they could pay more.

If someone works a 40 hour week, after tax and NIC they will take home just under £1,900 a month. Depends where you live but here in the South East most of that will go on rent. It’s impossible for a single person working full time on minimum wage to live independently without claiming top up benefits.

The thing we need, and I hope Burnham will do something about it, is rent control because what we have at the moment is a system where the majority of housing benefit is being paid to enrich greedy landlords so they can accrue both excessive income and large capital gains.

Over the last say 50 years or more, the ground has been shifting on a move away from State Pension provision to workplace pension provision - hence all the complications of contracted-out deductions, where SERPS was introduced to help people build a bigger State Pension but many employees didn’t want to, or couldn’t afford to, contribute to both.

Bear in mind that it’s possible for the old State Pension, currently £184.90, to be enhanced by another £230.54 pw of Additional State Pension (aSP/SERPS) to a total of over £415 a week - a total of £21,540 pa before tax.

Few people receive that amount, Currently around 9,000 people receive over £400 a week, but around 820,000 do receive over £300 a week.

People who fall within the new State Pension system but whose NIC straddles 2016 may have a protected payment from SERPS so they are not worse off under the new system where SERPS has been abolished.

If someone was contracted out of SERPS, they should have a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) from their employer equivalent to the SERPS pension they would have had.

The abolition of SERPS and the introduction of the new single-tier State Pension was partly to simplify the system but also to make it cheaper per capita to pay as older people with expensive SERPS/aSP die.

The rate of the new State Pension was set at roughly what the average person could enhance their pension by with SERPS, around 25%. As I said, getting the full amount of aSP is exceptional. When SERPS was abolished, the rate of NIC that had included SERPS was not decreased.

The danger is that while government ministers are talking about there being too many pensioners, downgrading SP, abolishing triple lock, means testing etc, more and more young people are opting out of workplace pension schemes while at the same time saying they don’t think the SP will exist but they time they get old. It’s a ticking time bomb.

We need a top down approach. We need government to look at the essentials of life: food, water, warmth and shelter and make those more affordable. Everything else flows from that.

I've long thought there ought to be a ' Single on State Pension Only' premium. Bills such as heating, electric, water & home maintenance don't halve for one occupant at all.
So much about managing depends on mitagating factors though, someone in a well insulated smallish home, easily accessed healthcare, shops, activities and supportive close community/family will fare better than not having those things.
I often speak to a lady in the park ,non driving who moved to a small village and within a couple of months the only shop closed and the bus route cancelled. She has to spend a good deal of her pension on taxis, a single 'top up' would help with these circumstances

I agree with you KCAC.

In August 2025, 1.39 million households in Great Britain were receiving Pension Credit, of whom 1.22 million were single pensioners and only 165,200 were pensioner couples.

researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-10139/CBP-10139.pdf

In 2025 the average pensioner couple income after housing costs (AHC) was £650 pw while for single pensioners it was £332.

Single male pensioners tend to have a slightly higher income than single female pensioners, £25 a week but it's enough to make a difference between being able to heat a home adequately or not.

AHC is derived by subtracting rent, water rates and charges, structural insurance premiums, mortgage interest payments, ground rent and service charges.

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/pensioners-incomes-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2025/pensioners-incomes-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2025

The minimum wage is an hourly figure not an annual one, so it would depend on how many hours you work. The clus is also in the name, it is a wage that people earn and pensioners don't pay national insurance.

Yes, but the point is that it is considered to be the amount needed to live on, so why should any pensioner be worse off, is the question.

I was surprised to find by how much my State Pension increased when I was widowed. I know that is not the case for the NSP.

Cabbie21

Yes, but the point is that it is considered to be the amount needed to live on, so why should any pensioner be worse off, is the question.

I was surprised to find by how much my State Pension increased when I was widowed. I know that is not the case for the NSP.

No, the point is that the minimum wage is nothing to do with the state pension, it is the minimum amount an employer should have to pay an employee to reflect the added value that they bring to the business.

Valid point — the gap between minimum wage and the state pension feels pretty stark, especially since pensioners still have rent, bills, and everyday costs. The argument that the state pension should at least match minimum wage makes sense on a fairness level. Of course, affordability is always the counterargument, but that doesn't make the current rate feel any less inadequate for those who rely on it. Frustrating that many fall through the cracks without private pensions or extra benefits. More here: crore-bet.net/

There is no way I could live on my SP even though mortgage and rent free. I am lucky to have small occupational pensions from both my payments and my late OH's. But they really are only small as OH had to retire through ill health at age 42. I almost scrape into min wage annual total figure.

There are of course pension credit and other benefits, all of which are costly to administer.

I sometimes think it might be better to increase the SP to something more acceptable and cut out the mish mash of top up benefits with all their associated admin costs, poor uptake through ignorance of the rules and perceived stigma. People with loads of private pension would still be taxed on their overall income in the same way so net cost would stay the same in their case.

I am sure someone has done the maths on this one - at least I hope so!

Thank you for pointing out that not everyone on the old pension is worse off than those on the full new pension, Graphite. Many are a lot better off, and many on the new pension don't get the full amount, yet posts on here so rarely acknowledge that.

I think it would be very wrong to means-test the SP, as it is (for most) a contributory benefit. It would be a slap in the face to penalise people for making arrangements to enhance it via occupational pensions so that those who haven't made them get more.

If a level of 'enough' is set we will soon find that that is all older people will get, with everything else means-tested away to give to those who have never contributed, or who have paid in too little to get 'enough'. It would become a race to the bottom, with those who have worked all their lives getting the same as those who haven't bothered.

I'm not sure that pensions can be linked to NMW (although it would be lovely to get as much as that in SP), as I think it's more important to increase the MW to a genuine Living Wage so that families can manage without having to claim benefits. If we prioritise that, and cut rents to an affordable level, more people will be able to work and pay into occupational pensions so they won't need subsidies in later life.

In the meantime, the deal was always that SP would be based on number of contributions (and level when there was a choice to pay in less), so IMO that should continue. I think it would be very unjust to cut the pensions of current claimants who made retirement plans based on that model.

silverlining48

Yes most pensioners would love to get the minimum wage because it’s twice as much as we are expected to live on.

Some people are still unaware there are two state pension rates, the old rate is £50or £60 lower per week if retired before 2016 than the new state pension paid if retirement was post 2016. It makes a huge difference.

I worked snd contributed for 45 years ( the new pension only requires 30 years ). Each time there is percentage increase the gap between the two pensions widens. What message does that send,
Our pensions in this country are snd always have been , much lower than the rest of Western Europe. Yet we are or were the 5 th wealthiest nation.

I understand why the new SP is higher.

But it’s not fair and the old SP should be brought up to the level of new SP so we are all getting the same amount.

Don’t forget some of us had to wait til we were 66 and most of us worked til then and paid in an additional 6 years of NI.

I would imagine many of us did pay in the 45 years, regardless of whether we are paid new or old SP.

I absolutely don’t agree that if SP was raised to a sensible amount that anyone with a workplace/private pension should be penalised by means testing.

I have the old rate state Pension and I also work 18 hours a week. I usually pay about £160 a month, tax
So with my wages and state pension I have about £18,000 a year, when I read on here some peoples Pension pots I can’t believe how much they’ve go 😵‍💫I never had a workplace Pension and actually I do manage well enough(I don’t drink drive or smoke)
I was able to buy my council house outright 23 years ago so I have not got the burden of rent Or Mortgage…