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Feminism: Sex & gender discussions

The changes to Pension Credit.

26 replies

HelenaDove · 16/01/2019 16:31

I started a thread in Money Matters and it was suggested i post a link here. Its to do with the changes to PC coming in on 15th May. PC will no longer be able to be claimed if the pensioner has a younger partner under SPA. Instead its Universal Credit.
Which also means households with a pensioner in them will have to pay bedroom tax.

This will disproportionately affect women as they tend to be the younger partner in most cases although not all.



www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/3479693-Changes-to-Pension-Credit?pg=1

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LangCleg · 16/01/2019 17:01

Is there an impact statement, do you know, Helena?

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Judashascomeintosomemoney · 16/01/2019 17:12

This will disproportionately affect women as they tend to be the younger partner in most cases although not all
Exactly my thoughts yesterday when I saw the other thread. Yet another benefit change that disproportionately affects women. With a partner twenty years older me, and an ever increasing eligible pension age, I can now look forward to potentially being my partners carer and having to work full time until I’m 67 and he is 87. I very much doubt that there will be any improvement to social care to mitigate the burden on younger female partners trying to care for an aging partner.

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HelenaDove · 16/01/2019 17:16

YY Judas I had a bit of a rant about social care and them wanting it both ways on the Money Matters thread.

I havent seen an impact statement yet but i was kind of hoping for a statement from Gordon Brown as PC was his baby so to speak.

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BoomBoomsCousin · 16/01/2019 17:35

Surely it affects both partners in a couple and would only disproportionately affect women if lesbian couples tended to have an age disparity more often than gay male couples?

It's a shocking change to have come in so quickly. I don't think there is much justification for the huge difference between UC and PC, but I never want to see more people pushed down on to the UC level - it's just not enough.

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HelenaDove · 16/01/2019 17:46

www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/dwp-sneak-pension-credit-changes-13864800


Here is Guy Opperman rewriting history


"In a written statement, Guy Opperman, Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, said previously: "Pension credit is designed to provide long-term support for pensioner households who are no longer economically active.

"It is not designed to support working age claimants"






Gordon Brown brought in PC to lift pensioner households out of poverty.

So Gordon classes a pensioner household as a household with one pensioner in it who is part of a couple as a pensioner household

And Guy classes a pensioner household with one pensioner in who is part of a couple as a working age household.




Im 23 years younger than DH In a lot of cases the younger spouse becomes the older spouses carer. This is the position i am in.

Using our age gap as an example i wouldnt be SPA until i am 67 as i was born in "73.

So DH would be classed as being of working age for Pension Credit purposes until he is 90 NINETY. And living on a lower rate until then.

Ive already seen nasty comments on Twitter like how its our own fault as we should stick to ppl our own age. Nice. hmm

Well i cant help who i fell for back in 1992 when this didnt even exist..

This is going to hit older people and their spouses carers very very hard and increase the pressure on the social care system. And Adult Social Services.

And only for new claimants? Bad enough on its own but people are already talking about a migration over like UC. People who have already been on PC for a while are already going to be 70 +

They want the younger spouse carers to be available for full time work? Then social care will have to step up because some of us wont be able to do both.
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HelenaDove Tue 15-Jan-19 14:20:53

DH has a mobility scooter. Which has to be maintained which costs money to do. And a shed to store it in which he pays a fee to the HA for.

Its not cold cuts in the fridge and sex every night for age gap couples despite what they may think.


its from the other thread so i dont have to type it out again.

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HelenaDove · 16/01/2019 17:49

is is an old post of mine from another thread which explains our life before PC.

HelenaDove Mon 30-Jan-17 01:16:25

Im a full time carer for my DH who had a heart attack 11 years ago. He became partially disabled due to this Im his full time carer. Hes now 66 Im now 43

In the years following he had many subsequent angina attacks which required trips to A and E I couldnt afford to go with him He was on IB back then and after rent and council tax were paid and other bills we had £40 a week left to live on. Which had to pay for food AND prescriptions. I couldnt afford to go with him because i couldnt have afforded a taxi back if he was admitted or to sit up at the hospital all night to pay for a bus fare i also couldnt afford. Carers are human We need sleep too.

However im perfectly aware that many health workers may have seen me as heartless so i made sure that all the paramedics who attended knew the reason why i couldnt go with him. It would have meant us going without food or possibly him going without one of his prescriptions. Pre ESA ppl on IB had to pay.

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HelenaDove · 16/01/2019 17:57
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HelenaDove · 16/01/2019 17:59

I think the trophy partners comment is tongue in cheek but it drives home the point.


From underneath the above link

Christine Bowles
January 15, 2019 at 07:07

This is disgusting. So think on when these “trophy partners” put their older partners into care rather than look after them. It will cost the government a damn sight more than the pension credit payment to pay for care.

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LangCleg · 16/01/2019 18:08

Helena, how does this interact with Carer's Allowance and Attendance Allowance?

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HelenaDove · 16/01/2019 18:12

I have absolutely no idea im afraid.

thats a bloody good point though.

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HelenaDove · 16/01/2019 18:16

Plus Health
@PlusHealth_info
1h1 hour ago

#WednesdayWisdom
Colder weather is on the way folks! If you're living on a low income or get the guarantee credit element of Pension Credit, you may be eligible for Warm Home Discount.
Apply through your energy supplier, do it soon as time is running out

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LangCleg · 16/01/2019 18:41

I mean, one would hope both would be discountable income but who knows under the current regime? They seem to implement pie in the sky ideas without the faintest idea of how they will play out on the ground or interact with other systems.

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LangCleg · 16/01/2019 18:47

Okay. UC has a carer's element and if you're in it, you're in the no work requirements group. You'd get the carer's element, Helena, if you get Carer's Allowance now, but it reduces UC pound for pound.

www.entitledto.co.uk/help/Caring-overview-Universal-Credit

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HelenaDove · 16/01/2019 18:49

I dont get CA because DH gets the mobility element and not the care element.

There are many many carers who care but dont get CA.

Carers UK spent a lot of time years ago trying to raise awareness of this fact.

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HelenaDove · 16/01/2019 18:54

At present the people already on PC wont be affected unless there is a change of circumstances such as a change of address So if DH gets any worse and we need to move into sheltered housing that would trigger a change.

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LangCleg · 16/01/2019 18:58

Every time I think things can't get worse, they do.

If it takes me five minutes to check a few details online, HOW DOES GOVERNMENT MANAGE TO CREATE THIS KIND OF SHIT SHOW?

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HelenaDove · 16/01/2019 19:11

Soooooooo if less make the move into sheltered housing that means they will stay living where they are so even less social housing will be freed up.

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PencilsInSpace · 16/01/2019 19:11

This is bad. At the moment there's the choice of which to claim for couples in these circumstances and most are better off on PC.

You can claim CA and UC but it's deducted from UC penny for penny.

AA is like PIP and DLA, it's not means tested so you can claim it on top of whatever UC you're entitled to.

There is a carer's element to UC (an extra £36/week) and if you're a full time carer you don't have to look for work, but if your partner loses PIP / DLA / AA, not only do you also lose the carer element but you can be required to look for work, up to full time. Which also means you can be sanctioned.

Which also means households with a pensioner in them will have to pay bedroom tax.

Has this bit been confirmed? There is already an exemption for PIP daily living, higher rate AA or middle or higher rate DLA care component. There aren't enough smaller properties for people to move into as it is, it would be insane to not add in an exemption for PC age.

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PencilsInSpace · 16/01/2019 19:18

I dont get CA because DH gets the mobility element and not the care element.

You also wouldn't get the carer's element then and would have to look for work. They're still supposed to work around your caring responsibilities but it would be in the hands of your work coach.

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HelenaDove · 17/01/2019 02:20
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HelenaDove · 17/01/2019 02:22
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HelenaDove · 17/01/2019 03:02

benefitsinthefuture.com/the-price-of-love-for-a-pensioner-is-52-44-a-week/

"The price of love for a pensioner is £52.44 a week.

by Gareth Morganon January 16, 2019

At least, that’s what this government has decided it is.

Two can live as cheaply as one, as the old saying goes. That would be good news from May 15th. This government has decided that two can live much more cheaply than one.

A single person, over state pension age, and claiming Pension Credit, will qualify for £167.25 a week in benefits. That’s for day to day living costs without housing help.

If he, or she, forms a relationship with another, younger, him, or her, you might expect there to be some increase in their living costs as there are now two people involved.

The new rules don’t work like that. Because they move onto Universal Credit, they get the Universal Credit rate for a couple.

That’s £114.81 a week.

So the government’s new rules decide that a single older person needs more money, every week, to meet their needs, than the same single older person when they’re also supporting another younger person.

On that basis, you might expect that adding extra partners in a polygamous marriage would keep driving the amount of money needed down until they start paying the DWP. At least the rules don’t do that – and there are mixed age polygamous marriages rules in the new regulations.

Benefits rules have always given couples less than single people. That recognises the fact that people living together have some common expenses which reduce their total costs. Nobody seriously argues against that. I have yet to find anybody who would seriously argue for the idea that feeding, clothing and providing for another person will reduce your costs by almost 1/3.

If the younger person had been claiming Universal Credit for themselves, before becoming one of the couple, they would have qualified for £73.14 a week. The two people, living separately, would, without housing support, have received £240.39 altogether.

That makes the price of love, for the couple, £125.58 a week.

Isn’t romance wonderful"

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LangCleg · 17/01/2019 08:48

We've always recognised that pensioners need a bit more money than the unemployed - because unemployment is (supposed to be) a transitory state and retirement is permanent. So things like repairs and renewals were built into the original, long gone, calculations.

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HelenaDove · 17/01/2019 13:53

inews.co.uk/news/uk/universal-credit-dwp-accused-of-burying-news-pensioners-benefits-younger-partners-mixed-age-couples/



Job Centres might find themselves dealing with a lot of irate pensioners coming in when they get pissed off about how their partners are treated.

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HelenaDove · 17/01/2019 13:53

Good point Lang.

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