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

That is the stupidest title and OP I have ever read. I work with the elderly (not care sector) and I see how some of them struggle. They can have enough to live hand to mouth but should something break (fridge/cooker) then they cannot afford to replace it. I have seen them choosing between food or heating.
So your title is wrong the poorest pensioners are that poor.

YABU

I'm pretty sure as many young people will end up owning homes as at the very least we'll inherit them won't we? Where are the houses going to go? Are we going to burn them in their houses when they die like weird vikings? The money filters down to the next generations somehow, either as houses, as money or as tax. Take the houses into account or your sums are flawed.

My grandparents are the pensioners in my family, one side got a small house and worked 3 jobs between them, with overtime, to deal with 15% interest rates. The other side never was able to buy. So if you think statements about how the current pensioners all own homes that were basically handed to them on plates is true, it's just that you're lucky. So don't whinge about money so much.

The poorest pensioners don't pay council tax or housing costs. yanbu

£7714 = Life of riley.

Clearly

Not so sure that 'most' pensioners dependent on the state pension are home owners either.

if they are under 45 they will never get the benefits that they are paying for pensionrs to have at the moment.

So what my Dad worked for 50 years to get his pension he started work in 1964, I would suggest that those under 45s look at their own parents, grandparents and maybe even great grand parents (don't forget that women born before 1950 got theirs at age 60) and work out how many of their own relatives pensions my dad helped to pay for.

And repeat the exercise to see how many of their relatives pensions my Mum who started work in 1970 and will be working until 2021 has helped pay for.

And then come back and tell me (or them) that's its not fair they are helping towards paying for other peoples pensions.

YABVVVU and grabby, I suspect.

I think the op is disgusting. Replace that with disabled and see of it is still ok. Some if the posts on here are vile, pensioners shouldn't get bus passes etc. Nasty thread and a nasty person to set up another goady ageist thread.

What a mean-spirited OP.

And the amount of misinformation and ignorance opined by some of the other posters here is astonishing.

YABVU

I work for an energy company I sometimes speak to pensioners both men and women who have to decide between eating or heating. They are often in tears over it and one man said to me he shoplifts for food as he cant afford food and gas and stealing food is easier than stealing gas! Safe to say I put him in touch with a charity which helped pay off his gas debts but obviously this is only possible if people speak up about how difficult. Unfortunately pensioners tend to be the type to not ask for help and put on a brave face so people dont tend to understand the level of poverty they can be in.

Very nasty thread. My dad worked from the age of 15, took his state pension early at 63 due to illness. But don't worry OP, the taxpayer didn't have to support him for long as he died at the age of 67. So almost 50 years of contributions, and he got 4 years state pension.

My DM (now deceased) and many of her neighbours, in a cul de sac of small one bed HA bungalows, had never had it so good. This was a country area where their DH's, in the past, would have earned very little so pension seemed generous and the rents were low.

to think the poorest pensioners in the UK aren't actually that poor
what a dreadful ageist assumption.
Replace this title with single mothers with several children on benefits and you would have a riot on your hands.

God what a horrible thread.

OP when you are elderly I sincerely hope you don't end up poor. Bus passes for example help to stop elderly people becoming isolated and lonely.

The poorest pensioners cannot afford to heat their homes, eat a healthy diet or take part many of the things others take for granted. They have poorer outcomes in every area....like everyone else living in poverty. It's worse for the elderly though....they are more prone to illness as a result.

Why attack pensioners?
The real problems are large companies eg amazon barclays starbucks who pay almost no tax in the uk and the super rich ditto.

What waffly said. Why does it have to be a race to the bottom?

Personally, I think more money should be spent on welfare for everyone who needs it; stats show we spend about 6% of GDP, compared to eg Germany's 25%.

Forgot the links!

www.economicshelp.org/blog/6810/economics/the-growth-of-welfare-spending-in-the-uk/

www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/en/society/main-content-08/social-security.html

Let's euthanase all the old buggers that no longer 'contribute' to society.
Or we could lock them all up together in a work house and they could look after each other.

Op you are being ageist.

Sorry I stopped bothering with op when considering the poorest pensioners had them all owning their own houses...

I don't think it is unreasonable that people more widely who were able to save etc should benefit from that at the end of their lives.

I don't think it's unreasonable that the struggle bit comes at the start when you are young and less encumbered and able to attack making more of life.

I don't think there was ever a law of physics which guaranteed life would be better for the next generation, though god knows I wish it for my dc.

This isn't actually about the poorest pensioners. They need as much help as anyone. It's another poor Generation Y thread querying non means tested benefits. Possibly a valid question but totally missold.

Indeed paxtecum. Shades of East Germany after the Wall when pensioners and anyone unfit to work was still allowed to travel to West Germany - in the hope that they would stay and the East Germans would have fewer useless mouths to feed and could give their homes to a worker instead.

I'm not being ageist, just looking at the sums but you are. Now do the sums for someone young, not working with several children, and on all the benefits available to them.

my DM says she is comfortable, with no mortage and gets council tax benefit, has only basic state pension- she says she is ok, but will never put the heating on and sits on top of an old gas fire and the pulls the sofa up to within two feet on the fire for the whole winter!!!??? Is this an age thing, as she never had heating until 10 yrs ago- or just cant afford???