Why don’t Labour get it?

According to who? They were talking about this on LBC recently. There have been multiple reports of it and I find it hard to believe you aren’t aware of it - unless you have your head buried in the sand…

Also, am I the only one that feels this site has been taken over by Reform bots?

You can't just cut welfare spending without that having huge ramifications on the whole of society. Pensions are a form of welfare; benefits for disabled people; help for SEN children. What exactly do you mean by "welfare spending? Things really aren't that simple. I'm not happy with Labour for many reasons. But just saying "cut welfare spending" shows a complete lack of political understanding. It sounds like a nonsense political soundbite. I mean they did cut welfare spending - the winter fuel allowance- and loads of people (boomers mostly) kicked off. You need to stop reading shit rags and stop watching GB News.

'I’d say it’s entitled to expect the working generation to pay for your retirement because you didn’t bother to save.'* *

That's a lot of assumption packed in there. I'm disabled and won't live long enough to get a pension but I pay into my work pension regardless. In the meantime I'm working two jobs to pay taxes to fund pensions for older people and benefits for anxious 30 year olds and child benefit for people with two children when I only have one.

The black hole in the UK’s finances has magically grown from £22bn to over £50bn since they came to power, and that’s nothing to do with pensioners.

An ageing population does impact productivity which impacts the countries finances. Our productivity never recovered from the 08 crash so nearly 2 decades of shit growth. And younger people were significantly impacted by the crash.

You can't improve productivity when workers have low wages, high taxes and high housing costs.

Its a deferred wage earned through decades of National Insurance contributions, often made under far harsher working conditions than today

It isn't a deferred wage. The State Pension was introduced at a time when life expectancy was not as high as now so today most pensioners will have taken out FAR more than they put in. I'm not sure what the solution though!

The projections of spending on benefits is expected to exceed £100billion so that is unsustainable and a reversal needs to happen.

That’s because of the conservatives. Not Labour.

but yes, let’s cut all government spending on younger generations and keep pumping the pensioners full of cash. Lord knows they deserve it.

They don't which is why nothing changes.

Well, I’m sorry to tell you that’s not going to happen if our Labour government continues spending money so recklessly.

The black hole in the UK’s finances has magically grown from £22bn to over £50bn since they came to power, and that’s nothing to do with pensioners. It’s pretty obvious they will be announcing more tax rises at next months budget announcement. It’s all they know - spend and tax.

They just don’t want to hear it.

In the 60s there were 5 workers to 1 pensioner, today it's approx 3:1 and will be 2:1 in a few decades. Because everything is paid out of current taxes as opposed to saved pots you would have to be completely stupid to not understand the economic constraints & why successive governments have relied on immigration for years to prop up the system.

Illegals on boats, a young person not working due to mental health problems are all drops in the ocean compared.

But how much higher? It’s 60% now. 70? 80? 90? If you want to make the country’s fate massively dependent on the whims of the rich then that’s the way to do it.

Countries have tried getting rid of their millionaires and billionaires and it’s usually ended up in strife. And the already poor get poorer.

Also how many people in the UK do you think cannot afford to live? UK national minimum wage is a global top 15% ish income, even after accounting for higher costs.

Welfare spending is about a quarter of government spending.

of welfare spending, about half is pensioners.

it is possible to reduce that - the government have over the last twenty years raised the pension ages. But it’s not easy - see the winter fuel payment fiasco - and realistically any government that messes with state pensions will lose the next election.

https://ifs.org.uk/taxlab/taxlab-key-questions/what-does-government-spend-money

I agree with you. It would have negative knock on effects - also increase the cost burden on the NHS and social care. And means testing is expensive to administer too. I think that if a large overall saving could be made, the triple lock would already be gone.

It also makes me laugh that the example for struggling was “we didn’t go on holidays abroad”, meanwhile most working families will have to choose between food and heating this winter.

It’s unlikely that the state pension will even be a thing when I hit retirement age. The age to get my occupational
and private pensions will be a lot higher than it is now. But I must sit tight and watch it all happen with a smile on my face because pensioners deserve their state benefits!

But this has been disproven multiple times.

But just remember that one day, you will be a pensioner and so will any children you have.

I won't be a pensioner at the same age though and my dc will be older than that. There will not be a triple lock when i'm retired or winter fuel. AA may even be means tested then. Let's not pretend life for future pensioners will be anything like it currently is.

Read this thread. They do.

Well you needn’t worry, because all those billionaires and millionaires are leaving the Uk in their droves thanks to Labour - along with all the jobs and investment they bring with them…

You are talking rubbish. Nobody has contempt for the younger generation. They are our children or grandchildren and we want them to succeed and do what we can to help them out financially and with childcare.

My parents spent their first married years living with my granny because they were waiting for a council house.

And you think todays young people would not do this? How old were your parents then?

This thread like every thread about the topic proves exactly why all governments have not done anything about the changing demographics. The vast majority of the public do not want to hear it. Teresa Mays suggestion around care costs was quite good imo but it was dubbed the dementia tax. That was almost a decade ago.

Jean-Claude Junker put it best: politicians the world over know what needs to be done, just not how to get re-elected having done it

Yep

It’s hilarious how much contempt some people have for the younger generations. We’re the ones working to pay for your retirements and you hate us for daring to want better for ourselves.

I don’t think it’s entitled to want to be able to afford a house when working full time.

house prices used to be 3 times the average salary. They’re now ten and a half times. Wages have not caught up, nor will they ever. I’d say it’s entitled to expect the working generation to pay for your retirement because you didn’t bother to save.