AIBU about mum's income and lack of benefit entitlement?

[CanIHaveYourNumberCucumber]

My mum is 61 and is a WASPI. She's 61 and works in catering. She is currently working 30ish hours per week as she is too tired/achy to work full time and out of her £210 per week wages has to pay £120 rent; £50 council tax (repaying a debt) and then has £40 for bills and food.

She has applied for tax credits but because she was working more last year, she is unable to qualify for them.

She is also not eligible for housing benefit or council tax benefit.

She can't work any more because she's exhausted and she says that she's too old to try to do less demanding work and I can't think of anything that she could do instead anyway.

WTF is she supposed to do? She's living every week relying on her tips to buy food, which is no more than £3/4 per day and her life seems such a sad existence.

The changes to pensions were publicised and it wasn't an overnight thing- though I do sympathise to a degree, and it proves how important it is to make yourself financially aware.

I feel like I'm forever banging on (on other threads) about being aware of your pension provision because it's fairly widely known that women tend to have far less provision for their retirement compared with men. I know this is a slight departure from the OP, but the principle is the same- as an adult you need to keep yourself abreast of reforms. It shocks me that many of my female colleagues (I'm in education, so very good pension compared to most others) have worked part time for years - I mean decades in some cases, long after their own children have gone to school- and they're only realising now in their 50s that their pensions are seriously depleted. Preparing for your older age is a massive thing nowadays, and for the state pension, it was inevitable that the entitlement age would rise simply because people live longer.

Also, it's about making what was an unfair situation - women getting pension earlier (despite on average living longer than men too) - into an equitable one. We can't have it both ways- wanting equality but then expecting to work fewer years than our male counterparts.

Anyway, it is what it is, so for the OPs mum I would suggest she looks at something less physically demanding which might enable her to up her hours to full time. Catering is physical graft, and she may find she could
Work more hours but actually be less tired doing something different

And YY to having a health check at the doctor because sometimes a vitamin supplement or change to diet can have a big impact on energy levels

Regarding her age and the pension age moving, she received a letter a couple of years ago confirming that she would retire at 62 and the. It went up again with no notification.

That's total and utter bollocks she would have been born in 1955 like me (I reached 62 in March) or 1956 if she has only just turned 61 the 1995 pension act made it clear that the pension age would rise

1995 - women's state pension age to be equalised
Following pressure from Europe, the Conservative Government was forced to announce plans to equalise state pension age for men and women. The timetable was the most relaxed possible and would raise pension age for women to 65 slowly from April 2010 to April 2020

So women like your mum and I would have got our pensions in 2020 if born in 1955 there is no way on earth she would have been told a couple of years ago that her pension age would be 62, I wasn't told that and I am the same age.

It changed again in 2011 - Pensions Bill sets out the planned changes
In February 2011 the detailed timetable for change was announced in the Pensions Bill 2011. Women's state pension age would rise to 65 by November 2018 and then men and women's pension age would rise together to reach 66 by 5 April 2020. Five million men and women would face a later state pension date. But while men would have to wait at most another year, 500,000 women would have to wait longer than a year. The wait for 300,000 would be 18 months or more and 33,000 would have to wait for two years.

There's what's called a disregard on reductions in income for tax credits, so her tax credits will be calculated on the basis of last year's income if the reduction is less than £2,500 or if her reduction is greater than £2,500 then it will be calculated in current year income plus £2,500. I don't think a lot of info online makes that clear, and that might be why there is the discrepancy between what you calculate she should get and what she actually gets.

Sorry OP I have got a copy of my letter from the DWP dated 2014 which gives my pension date as 2021 so there is no way someone the same age as me was told a couple of years ago their pension age would be 62

Sorry if I'm wrong - I'm just going on what she's told me.

Would it be possible for you to supplement her income?

Oldsu - I too was born n 1955 and was notified in the 1990s that I would not receive my SP until I was 64 but the goalposts were mov d in 2020/11 and I now have to wait until I am 66. Annoying but agree that we were advised . By the way OP 61 is not old !!

*2010/11

Oh beep beep

You have no empathy for a woman who has worked all her LIFE and is poor and tired

I want to subsidise people like her

OP hope you get some good advice . I agree that it's worth seeing her GP for some advice on her fatigue and pain

And get advice on WTC and maybe managing her debts

It's hard really hard

Wrong emoji there sorry

If you mean me then yes I do have empathy for her. I'm just asking whether her daughter could supplement her income a bit. whats wrong with that? It's what families do - how do you think people survived pre-benefits (or people in countries with no benefits).

I'd happily give my mum £10 a week if she was skint and knackered.

Can you really not reassess about taking her in - we did this with my parents at 63 and 61 - it didn't increase my household bills really but meant they only really have to fund their food. There are compromises but only really what they did when they brought me up x

I'm getting a bit pissed off with people suggesting other posters don't have empathy!

Look- ultimately the system had to change. In the past many people would have been dead within a decade of drawing their pension. Average life expectancy has increased hugely. And I never understood why women were able to get their pension so much earlier than men, particularly as they have a longer expectancy.

The issue of women and financial planning is a huge one, and way too many women bury their head in the sand about it.
And that's no personal criticism of the OPs mother... I see it among colleagues. Two teaching colleagues in my age bracket (50s) have recently expressed huge shock that their teaching pensions aren't very much... it didn't seem to have occurred to them that working 3 days a week for their entire post-children career would have a massive impact on their pension.

We all need to be responsible for keeping abreast of changes and planning accordingly.

Its not ideal that a woman who has worked her whole life and paid tax her whole life is living hand to mouth

No it was to earlier poster I commented

stopfuckingshoutingatme I do have empathy because I too have worked all my life - 47 years and counting, I am so fucking tired when I get home I fall asleep on the sofa, I have arthritis, dodgy knees and a dicky ticker. But I really cant believe that women my age are complaining that they have been stitched up, we were told about it at the time

Oldsu

I never doubted your empathy . I am not looking forward to working full time when I am older but I have to . It's that or die

Any tips to make ageing easier

Please get her to take vitamin d supplements. Buy the decent ones from the health food shop.
Practically everyone is vitamin d deficient and most gps will not test.
Symptoms are tiredness and aching.

You lost me when you said 61 was end of her life! Unless she actually had an illness that makes that the case then you're being dramatic!

I do totally get the issue about getting tired quicker when you get older. I'm only in my 50s and I've noticed it already. As a teacher I average about 50 hours a week term time (not looking for sympathy; i chose my career) and I know I can't keep this pace up forever. But my plan is to drop to maybe 4 days in my late fifties, and then retire from teaching at 60 but still work in some form, might even do something completely different. In fact I'm assuming I'll do something very part time until I die, not necessarily for the money but because there's s lot of evidence that keeping
Active mentally and physically is best. However I will be doing this from a standpoint of having paid shed loads into my teaching pension and I absolutely won't reduce my hours until I've researched the impact. It worries me that I see so many (female) teachers who only work part time, often because they believe they wouldn't be able to cope with full time hours, and I want to tell them not to sell themselves short. I also regularly remind my dc (in their twenties) that a state pension probably won't exist in any recognisable form by the time they're in their 60s and to plan ahead.
It really is that, or face poverty for the last part of your life

stopfuckingshoutingatme sorry no tips

Stopfuckingshoutingatme,
My only tip is to make a determined effort to keep yourself as healthy as possible. Of course there are no cast iron guarantees against developing some god awful illness, but by not smoking, keeping your BMI within a safe range, exercising regularly, you're giving yourself the optimum chance

I suspect it's going to be very normal to see people working in some form or other into
Their 70s

My dear old grandad retired at 65 and spent the 6 years he passed away, pottering in his garden with a fag hanging out his mouth. That was back in 1970s... things are very different now.

6 years before he passed away

That's what my dad did too ! Ah the good
Old days

I have given up smoking and have restarted to exercise more and eat carefully . I hear you !

What also worries me is ageism . I work in a business setting .