Pension, triple lock and inflation

No Government has been any different! I can remember being very upset as a child, now 77, when my DGM had to retire at 60 from a job she loved doing & received a quarter by pension than the amount she had been earning in a not very well paid job, being a woman! I was about 7 or 8 & my DM sat me down & tried to explain that this was the way the law of the land was! I was very angry for my DGM. Then my DM had the same when she reached retirement age! Guess what? Nothing had changed when I received my pension! As for Age UK & their talk of trying to help I am very disappointed in them recently! 3 times I have been asked to talk to Reporters about how I cannot manage! Only once did one of these people bother using anything I said! She was a very nice person from a paper in the US! The other two just wanted as sensational quotes as possible! Because I told them things I have to pay for that have to be cut back but that it would have to be done I did not even get the courtesy of a phone call telling me that my comments would not be used! Then the papers are full of whiny, whinging people who cannot manage on their benefits! Says it all really doesnt it? Pensioners should go sit in a corner & die to make room for all the younger people as we have had our day & are useless now, beyond consideration by any & all Governments over the years! Sorry for long winded rant but have no one else to talk to now who understands! Off to sit in my corner & laugh at all those who think they will never be old & in our position!

I expect Johnson will find some 'technical' reason not to give the full triple lock entitlement to OAPs next year, never mind this year. Sunak is well out of touch.

Me too, promised a pension at 60 but it was not honoured.

I've still got eleven long months to wait for my State Pension, I joined WASPI who are fighting for our cause.

Shandy Make sure you apply for your pension as soon as invited - four months before your birthday. I did so but it took ten months before I received it, six months after my 66 birthday. It wasn't a complicated claim. I was told it was sheer backlog of work. If Civil Service numbers are going to be cut further ...

My pension was backdated but still annoying seeing as we WASPIs have already been cheated out of six years pension and the things that go with it e.g. an bus pass (in England) and winter fuel allowance.

Sunak promised to retain the triple lock at the last election.

Now he is spending £500000 to repair his image.

Why not just restore the triple lock?

That money is being paid by the taxpayer btw.

I was sent the usual letter in January telling me that my state pension increase this year would be £11 per month. When it actually came through in April it was actually £6. I decided to phone the DWP to query the underpayment but there’s an inclusion on their recorded message which says they are dealing with underpayments in due course.
Anyone else had this happen?

I don't need the money now I will admit. However if they keep eroding the pension payments lower than the cost of living, eventually I will be in the position of not having enough money to subsidise my life style and then it won't be long until I will need to claim Pension Credit (which probably wont even exist by then). So they should keep their promises and retain the triple lock, and reinstate this years because inflation is so much more than they even anticipated.

The only women that have been shafted are those born between 1953 and 1955 everyone else knew that the pension age was increasing and if they didn't its no ones fault but their own for not keeping up with the news. My daughter was born in 1979 and she knew. If women want equal pay for equal work its only fair that they have to take the bad with the good. Also people are living a lot longer now so its not fair on the Tax Payers to be paying out Pensions for 25 to 30 years for everyone.

Inaccurate information source MaggsMcG, women after 1955 were affected too.

I was born in 1957, and if I had been informed of the changes, would not have taken my Teacher's Pension early. As for 'keeping up with the news' I was a busy Lecturer with two small children, and my husband worked away during the week. My evenings were spent marking and doing prep once they'd gone to bed, not reading the papers or watching tv for DWP adverts.

That’s the same as me , I am 69 and feel I should go back to work to help out , but I have worked since I Was 15?

The DWP computer systems were quickly able to implement - and later, remove- the £20 a week increase to Universal Credit claimants, so if the government wanted, it could just as easily implement another £20 a week increase now. I would propose giving it to everyone on means-tested benefits: Pension Credit, UC, ESA, JSA, CA…
I am less sure about an uplift to all on SRP, as not all pensioners are on the bread- line, but a one- off, like the winter fuel allowance, would not come amiss.

Agreed, Shandy57. I get so sick of people who claim to know what other people knew and when they knew it.

Even the government admit that they didn't tell women about the changes early enough. As for the hackneyed trope about 'if you want equality, yada yada' - how do you go from years of discrimination to equality overnight? Yes, anyone starting a career after the EA had a bit of a chance (although you can't legislate for attitudes, and the gender pay gap even now is way above 10% - 26% in some professions), but those already in work didn't suddenly get promoted to where they might have been if not for being denied the chance to apply for particular roles.

And yes, we all know that there are individuals for whom this is all theoretical as they managed to rise above it all by their sheer brilliance or determination, but they are among the few, not the many.

Any woman who did not work but stayed at home to look after family shoukd have all the years added to their pension Contributions. When I married I was not allowed to continue working with a town council. Policy was no married women employed. Obviously a gap in contributions until I found another but lower paid job. Often wonder if I should sue them for discrimination. I'd be surorised if we ever see the triple lock applied again. It's like Boris's misdemeanours, ignore, keep quiet and they will be forgotten.

The comment from the Bible 'The poor will always be among us' even Charles Dickens in 'A Christmas Carol' couldn't reverse the situation because rich people don't understand poor people or the concept of being poor or destitute and poor people are often fearful of the very rich that is how it works in society.

Agreed Doodledog I used to watch the HoC debates about this and swear that the (then) Pensions Minister Guy Opperman did not even understand the issue. It wasn't that the government could not find the money. It chose not to. There is so much ignrance surrounding the whole issue. I wonder how many women don't know why there was a five year difference?

As a pensioner I used to be on a special SoLow tarriff water rate. That has now been abolished. When shocked at the amount my Smart meter was showing I called the company only to be told I was on the lowest rate. I am on Pension Guarantee so do feel sorry for those on basic Pension.
I do have to employ someone to do housework, gardening and personal care so it is a struggle anyway.

What is really unfair is the difference in income between the 'new'and 'old' pensions.

Can’t wait for my pension working now full time in childcare.
I’m 62 and struggling. Aching every night but need to do this till I can afford to stop!

MaggsMcG

The only women that have been shafted are those born between 1953 and 1955 everyone else knew that the pension age was increasing and if they didn't its no ones fault but their own for not keeping up with the news. My daughter was born in 1979 and she knew. If women want equal pay for equal work its only fair that they have to take the bad with the good. Also people are living a lot longer now so its not fair on the Tax Payers to be paying out Pensions for 25 to 30 years for everyone.

What a horribly sanctimonious post ! Don't presume to know what I and others do or do not know.

Chewbacca

^when I was 16, I was promised a full pension at 60, if I worked and paid full NI, which I did.^
Then, the goalposts moved and I had to wait an extra 6 years. ?
When I finally got it, I was promised the triple lock, and then that stopped this year.
Two promises broken.

Exactly the same for me too Diamond, I'm feeling like I've been well and truly shafted.

Those of us who got the pension at 60 get a lower rate of pension and always will. Also if we stayed at home caring for children before 1973 we didn’t get NI credits so unless we could afford to pay for the missing contributions we were never going to get the full pension, I stayed home for 10 years and returned to work in 1973 so was 10 years short in my NI record. Neither things are just of course but I just wanted to point that out.

I am glad you have highlighted the triple lock for pensioners as I was certain people had forgotten about this . Another promise broken?

Shandy57

Inaccurate information source MaggsMcG, women after 1955 were affected too.

I was born in 1957, and if I had been informed of the changes, would not have taken my Teacher's Pension early. As for 'keeping up with the news' I was a busy Lecturer with two small children, and my husband worked away during the week. My evenings were spent marking and doing prep once they'd gone to bed, not reading the papers or watching tv for DWP adverts.

Indeed, I have a friend born in 1958 and the same thing. She was aware of it, she repeatedly contacted the DWP for details and was repeatedly fobbed off.

I’m an NHS worker in my late 50’s. Most of my pension is still based on the final salary scheme.

As far as I know, NHS pensions are still index liked.

Speculation is the Government is likely to offer a 3% pay deal to the NHS, but inflation is running at 9%. We might get a max 5% rise after strike threats and much negotiation by the unions, but I’m not holding my breath.

I loose approx 5% of my pension for every year I retire before 60.

But …… if my pension is index linked it goes up 9% with inflation, while if I carry on working the increase is only going to be 3-5%. Maybe I’m better off going a year early at 59 and let the pension rise with inflation rather than working another year???

Seems crazy. My husband recently reduced from full time to two days a week, but is now wondering if he would be better off just taking his pension, which is almost the same as his salary for a 2 day week, as the pension will increase faster than his local government salary.