to think the poorest pensioners in the UK aren't actually that poor

[twistedsista]

The minimum amount a pensioner will get at the moment if they have made no provisions is 7714.2 pa tax free + free bus / train (depending on areas) + winter fuel allowances + warm home discount + free perscriptins + consesionry prices for many things etc and most bought homes when they were reasonable so they have minimal housing costs.

Compare this to a single person on nmw who could be paying 25 a week on bus travel, 130 a week on rent with no hope of buying. they have to pay tax and if they are under 45 they will never get the benefits that they are paying for pensionrs to have at the moment.

I'm not being ageist, just looking at the sums

Attendance allowance is only paid if you fill all the criteria for needing help to lead a normal life.

You don't have to be elderly to qualify for insulation and boiler schemes.

You have to be elderly or with kids, as is such single people are screwed.

Single people are not screwed, they have the ability to move, retrain, travel overseas, educate themselves, take high risk jobs, take jobs involving lots of travel, take jobs with higher physical strain or physical risk, all of these type of jobs are better paid.

Do some research twisted.

I disagree 100% with that POV. Ffs only single people can educate themselves?!

It would be nice to offer these schemes to younger low income people without children, but their need is not as great. What do you propose? Deny children, the disabled and the elderly warmer homes because young, able bodied people aren't seen by the government as being in sufficient need?

I propose giving discount on travel and heating to everyone in need of them. Shocking I know.

Maybe less baby boomers would have their cruise deposit money then.

Acfoss ten pages no one has been able to give a valid reason why extremely wealthy pensioners need orshould have a substantial winter fuel allowance. Aside from 'I've worked hard' as if they were the only generation to have done so.

Two possible reasons:

It's a vote winner, older people being far more likely to vote than younger ones.

Means testing brings an administrative cost and always treats people on the cut off unfairly. They got away with this with child benefit because of the government's successful divide and conquer tactic, and because younger people don't vote in sufficient numbers.

I know why it is done, a deliberate tactic to butter up pensioners. I don't buy the argument that means testing would be more costly than paying a fairly substantial sum to every single pensioner.
I wonder if any comfortably off baby boomers can stick their head over the parapet and tell us why they feel they should have it?

I wouldn't support means testing because, as I believe will happen with child benefit, the threshold will increase far more slowly than the cost of living (if at all).

Be careful what you wish for here, I reckon.

Winter fuel payments could easily be given to those who get pension credit only. Little administrative cost there .

If it were a truly universal benefit then it should be paid to everyone, in the same way access to healthcare is. Using age as a category for support seems bafflingly arbitrary.

twisted you are wrong. Young people do get free insulation. In Scotland. Everyone does. As I posted earlier. You can't just generalise about one part of the UK

Can I claim Attendance Allowance?

You must be 65 or over and not already claimingDisability Living Allowance. Whether you’re actually getting any outside help doesn’t matter, as your claim will be assessed on your needs.For example, you might require help with washing, or getting dressed, or making yourself a meal, or need someone to be with you to keep you safe.At the assessment, you'll need to provide identification. You can use a passport; birth certificate; full driving licence; bank statement; or life assurance policy.You can spend the money you get on care or in any other way you choose.You can use ouronline benefits calculatorto find out if you might be eligible for Attendance Allowance.

We claimed it when dgm had breastfeeding, bowl and bladder cancer one after the other and needed more help than we could give her as she's 90 with limited mobility. She no longer gets outside help but is still entitled to it

Breastfeeding = breast cancer

Unreal your suggestions all cost money. You've danced around it but what you really mean is "get on your bike" l

My DM was going off on one recently saying that if people just did what she did in 1968 here in 2014 that it would work and that she managed to pay her mortgage back then.
She certainly wouldn't have achieved that on a zero hours contract.

And to say that single people should do something unworkable because they haven't got the funds.....simply because they haven't got a partner , or living proof that they have had sex without contraception is discrimination IMO.

Last year Camila Batmendiglia founder of Kids Company (sorry I can never spell her surname) was interviewed for a magazine.
She wrote to David Cameron a few weeks before the summer 2011 riots warning him something could happen. She also said in a lot of cases that the young people were NOT just stealing designer goods. Some of them were taking food.
And Camila said she was coming across young people who were turning to Jihadism because they were so disillusioned.

Here is a blog I came across about young people who have to sign on because their work contracts are so insecure. But I guess they can travel abroad by stowing away on a cruise liner eh?

www.katebelgrave.com/2014/06/a-few-words-from-young-people-who-must-sign-on-because-work-is-insecure-and-low-paid/

Er no, just explaining to Twistedsista that there are reasons that the elderly and people with children get extra support. Some how she seems incapable of understanding that life as a single person is a heck of a lot less challenging and that's why they get less money.

Yes, move for work, why not? People have always done this.

HOW WITH WHAT!!!

A bike?

So are ppl supposed to move each time a low wage job ends? How on earth do they afford that.
A landlord requires a deposit.

Im glad you think its funny unreal.