What is the point of paying NI for 35 years to get a full State Pension, when people who have never worked receive Pension Credit anyway?

Can you provide a basic timeline of all this? It doesn’t make sense.

He was working, but he was no longer able to. She was not working because back then, married women were forced out of the workplace, and she was raising children.

I think far too many people get far too much in benefits, yes.

So what happened then? He wasn’t working, nor was she?

I haven’t been ‘broke all my life’ I have travelled the globe, Seen Everest, take several holidays a year, raised a family, bought a house. Will live on a state pension and my equity. I’m off to Florida, Croatia, Thailand and diving in Egypt…. No very far from broke

Do you understand even very basic economics?

He became unwell when she was still looking after their kids. Not predictable, and could happen to anyone.

Oh come off it, you're casting aspersions on people being quids in on PIP (and other benefits), to be getting those they are sick and/or disabled!

Comparison is the thief of joy.
I couldn’t care less what someone else earns, gets in benefits or is going to get when they retire.
To say it’s not fair makes you sound like a child.
Why do you care? Do you work out what everyone is getting in benefits? Would you not apply for any benefits if you were entitled? How much would you like them to receive?

Because you brought them up, not me.

I’m not bashing sick people. This is a financial, not a moral, issue.

Why do you need to know?
They are both dead. They are costing you fuck all.

No because all that will happen is the state pension becomes means tested. So once again those not working handed the money, those who worked will get nothing.

Another one here who is in receipt of PIP and works, albeit reduced hours/flexibly to match my capabilities following a stroke on top of other long-term conditions - the benefit of being freelance.

Please can we stop with the bashing of people who are sick and doing the best they can within their limits. It's getting beyond relentless and tiresome now.

You made the bizarre comment about it not being worth working unless you earn £200k, and you may as well claim benefits.

Go on, go on benefits. Then please report back.

If he was disabled early on then why have many children? Surely his limited earning potential, and her absolute lack of earning potential, was clear at that point?

You crack on and do as you suggest..... stop working, enjoy a life of no work and then take your SP at 67 knowing that despite all the things you have missed out on in the intervening years, you have beaten the system.👍

Meantime, I have worked hard, paid my tax & NI and have been enjoying my early retirement (finished at 57) funded by my company pension (which I made over-payments into for many years). I look forward to receiving my SP at 67 but in the meantime I am living my best life doing what I want, when I want, where I want...... NOW.😁

You're not 'paying in' to anything though. It's not a savings pot. If the birth rate keeps falling then state pensions might get further and further away.

You're better off with a private pension by the looks of it.

My gran was from an era where women were "encouraged" to leave work once they got married, and I put that in quotes as it was sometimes not a choice. Which she did. My grandad was disabled early on in his life. Not once did they have carers visit. She did it all herself.
DFOD to call her lazy. She gave up her life to care for him.

There will be people entering retirement age now and in the same situation. They are on PC because they were carers.

The idea that there are a huge number of people who have "never worked" then getting PC is extremely inaccurate. A good number might have been working in low wage jobs and not able to sustain a long term career due to circumstances, often beyond their control. I will be in that number. I have worked on and off, including running a small business for 7 years which collapsed two years ago for complex reasons.

Before that, I spent time in different part time jobs, at one point three at once, and have worked round child rearing, caring for a disabled ex husband and then a succession of frail elderly parents.

These threads boil my piss. Some people never catch a break, and we suck it up, and are genuinely grateful for the safety net we wish we didn't need and often get trapped in. We live frugally, feeling anxiety and uncertainty about our housing, our heating, everything really, and in our 50s, despite being finally "free", are unattractive to employers because we cost more than under 25s, can't afford to retrain, and our skills are being replaced by AI. And once you've been out of the workforce for a few months, it's bloody hard to get back in.

We could all of course tell our families where to get off when cancer,or dementia , or any number of curve balls come calling, but that would be pretty bleak, and most of us don't have a swinging brick where our hearts should be.

The world economy is heading for the every 80ish years crash - it's a cycle that has been historically observed, and the rise of technology, AI and automation is an unprecedented factor, nothing like previous industrial progress.

Trying to boul everythong down to carping about the "unfairness" of state "wealth" (ha) distribution belies total ignorance of a big picture that is going to change everything beyond recognition far more quickly than can be adjusted to, economically and psychologically. If you think things are bad now, just wait a few more years, then you'll truly see "unfairness" as more and more people fall into complete financial insecurity.

He’s in a minority. 5 out of 6 people claiming PIP do not work.

Nice way to dodge the whole point which is the public purse

I don't have kids, but if I did, I would be wishing I did not need to claim DLA for them.

Sorry but that is lazy. There must’ve been a 20 year gap between the child duties ending and the husband care starting. The majority of mums I know work AND care for their DC, and some have conditions themselves.

You won’t get rich as a single childless person on benefits (if you are). But a few kids, if one is claiming DLA or you claim PIP and it’s quids in - far better off than working NMW, and better off than people earning more than that.