to wonder why a single pensioner needs more in benefits than a single younger person?

[GiganGORE]

What expenses would they have that a younger person wouldn't?

I am not making a judgement as to whether benefits are right or wrong or any of that.

just pondering why it is felt that the pension should be more per person than the single person income for someone not yet at pensionable age.

Pensioners can get hb and ctc ..why do you think they can't?

jumpandpop you could be describing DH's grandmother except that she doesn't claim benefits / pension credit.

She has wardrobes full of good-quality classic clothes, wouldn't dream of changing the furniture which was bought when DH's mum was young and really was built to last. Still lives in the large 3-bed she brought her family up in (paid for) and can heat and maintain it.

Good pension from the RAF, she served as did her late husband as well as other bits and pieces because she worked all her life.

She too goes to social clubs every day to three or four Churches a month in order to see all her friends but she doesn't spend anything really.

She reads and writes letters in her spare time, watches the news and listens to the radio. Until recently she had a gentleman friend who she provided a lot of care for - care his own children and grandchildren were very reluctant to give and to transfer to her

She has the sort of inner resources we should all aspire to have and yes, it is a real pleasure for her to treat us every now and again.

But as DH says you don't raise three children during / immediately post-war without learning a thing or six about priorities and budgeting. My children and I am extremely fortunate to know her

My parents are completely different, baby-boomers to whom aquiring things (thousands of CDs and DVDs they never use for example) and show-of-wealth (even when they didn't have the money) was paramount. They are manic about possessions and used endless credit all their lives.

They didn't even stop when they retired but blasted through the money they got through an equity-release scheme (which they don't even understand. They think they will pay just the money they borrowed back with no clue about compound interest) and my Mum bought a new Landrover at £300 per month for five years which was more or less her entire pension

I like to think that DH and I, and our generation are going back to the old values but luckily we haven't had the real grinding hardship her generation faced and faced head-on.

Most pensioners who get state pension will have paid in for it. National insurance contributions are supposed to pay for State pension and certain other benefits:

State benefits linked to your National Insurance contributions
State benefits that are linked to your National Insurance contributions are known as 'contributory benefits'.
The contributory benefits
National Insurance contributions pay for the following state benefits:
the basic State Pension
the additional State Pension, sometimes called the Second State Pension
Jobseeker's Allowance - the 'contribution-based' element
Employment and Support Allowance - the 'contribution-based' element
Maternity Allowance
bereavement benefits - Bereavement Allowance, Bereavement Payment and Widowed Parent's Allowance (from direct.gov.uk_

If you have not paid sufficient NI contributions, your entitlement to these benefits will be affected, either reduced or non existent.

I don't think it is true to say that many pensioners have never worked a day in their lives or paid any taxes or contributions. There may be some, but the welfare/benefits system was very tough in the past, much more so than now. There really were instances of benefits inspectors visiting homes and making families sell 'surplus' furniture. eg: if there were six dining chairs and only four people, two of the chairs had to be sold before any benefits would be considered. When my parents separated my mum had no option but to find a job if she wanted to feed us, since the level of benefit available was so low. And there was no Tesco 'value' in those days! I remember when I went t secondary school I needed a school uniform and my mum was given a small grant for it. Can you imagine how anybody would react these days if a council official accompanied you to the shops to make sure you did not use the money on anything that was not 'necessary'? That's what happened to us!

My mum is now a pensioner. She only has her state pension as her jobs never paid well enough to contribute to a private pension fund. Indeed, most people, unless they were civil servants or similar, wouldn't have know what a private pension was all those years ago. Do I begrudge her, or any other pensioner a bit extra to help make their final years a bit more comfortable? Or to pay for a holiday? No, not at all. I am only glad that so many of them are now able to afford those treats that so many of them could not afford when they were younger.

I didnt say many did I?

No just checked.

There will be loads in the next 20 years though.

Maybe because they're more likely to have paid in.

Is income support really the same level as JSA? Because I looked up what i was entitled to if I lost my job and it was JSA at £65 per week? How can someone live on that -its nothing like the £20k + per annum that some posters seem to be getting? Why do they get so much and clearly other people are entitle to so little?
(I accept that as someone with savings I would be expected to live on them, but if I didn't, presumably I'd be entitled to more? what exactly is JSA/IS supposed to cover at that rate - about 3.5k per annum? How would I pay my housing costs?)

If you have sufficent NI contributions then you can get contributions based job seekers allowance for 18 weeks irrespective of your savings or your partner's job. To be entitled you have to lose your job through no fault of your own and have paid NI contributions for 2 years.

After that then the income and the savings of the entire family is taken into account.

If you have savings below a certain amount you can claim for things like mortgage interest relief after being unemployed for a certain period or housing benefit. This benefit can be worth 10K. If you factor in things like not having to pay council tax, free prescriptions, dental care, free school dinners it all adds up.

Puzzle magazines,
Bird food,
Tartan rugs,
Wurthers,
Deliveries of The Daily Racist/sexist/homophobic/rightwingnutter,
Condoms,
Lily of the valley stuff,
Medical appliances,
etc...

Historically it was because out-of-work benefits were only ever supposed to be temporary.

Secondly, pensioners get a pension even if they are still working/earning.

And this isn't ging to change any time soon because the 'grey' vote is very powerful.

Pensioners have been pensioned off work!Young people claiming benifits are supposed to be looking for work, and a bit uncomfortable.

Tiggy

'Deliveries of The Daily Racist/sexist/homophobic/rightwingnutter'

Offensive and agist.

redflag- you're wrong, they automatically get it when they have reached pension age as long as they have paid the required NI.

Yeah so point still stands doesn't it! its not the same thing. You cant compare a pension to job seekers can you!

Related - why is JSA around £14 more for people aged 25 or over?