I will probably get flamed for this but ...

[glitterytrainers]

When anyone talks about pensioners they say that the person has worked all their life, deserve their pension, free bus pass etc. Do you think it is possible in the near future that there are going to be a whole bunch of pensioners who have never worked a day in their life? I certainly know a few who have never paid into the system but will get the same pension as me. And no, I'm not talking about disabled people or people with chronic illnesses or carers.

Leave your job then OP. Kick back watch the money role in.

PositiveVibez she gets paid less than me and we both work in the same place. She married someone with more money than my husband and can afford to not work the rest of the time. And before you say that he is paying taxes and she is due the same pension, I don't see why I pay a lot more tax and we will both get the same pension.

People are forgetting that certain benefits and also claiming child benefit contributes to your NI totals so it is very possible for people that have never worked to get the same state pension as someone that has worked for 50 odd years full time.

What we need to remember though is that if they haven't worked, they wouldn't have paid into a private pension either so what? We just leave these people to starve to death at nearly 70 years old? There is no other solution really than to give everyone the state pension. The majority of these non workers were probably SAHP's (SAHM's especially) or they have a disability or illness. Very few will have gone their entire lives claiming benefits and have wangled the system to never work

My grandma only ever worked outside the home for 3 years (between leaving school at 15 and getting married at 18). She had a full state pension and the widow's portion of my granddad's work pension. She was on that pension for about 30 years.

Are you saying she deserved her pension more than people who have been unable to find a job? My sister falls into the "can't find a job" category btw, and she's thoroughly depressed about it. She's worked bits and pieces of temporary jobs here and there, but has spent quite a lot of her adult life as a single parent in an area with very few jobs that can fit into normal childcare hours (not school hours, but so she can drop off as childcare opens and pick up as childcare closes).

Chillykiwi - I wondered if they were a journalist too

I don't see why it matters if they haven't worked a day in their lives. I would still not think it's right that they don't have access to travel, food or heating.

and I believe if you get benefits your contributions towards your pension are still made

Ahhh ,so we're bashing people who claim benefits? Righto

What’s the alternative? Let people starve in the streets? Workhouses? I don’t want to live in a society like that, even if it doesn’t seem “fair” to some. Though we may well be heading that way

Agree 100%

I don't understand why you are arsed OP.

So what if Linda from down the road get the same amount of government pension as you do????

You should have got a private pension if you didn't want to live solely on govt handouts in your old age.

Why does everyone think I am benefit bashing? There is nothing more that riles people on here more than talking about benefits. Am I not allowed to have the opinion that because myself and my husband have worked our whole life that we should get a better pension than someone who hasn't contributed? We are not going to be wealthy pensioners.

@Bluebutterfly90 Yeah, everyone pays tax on the things they pay money on. But the issue is that some people who aren't working and who receive benefits are using someone else's hard-earned money to pay their tax.

@glitterytrainers
And what do you want to happen instead?
Old people work houses?
Old people starving?

Yes. People will take advantage of the system, but overall we are better with the system than without it.
I honestly cant get my head around this attitude. I've worked for a long time and I dont begrudge people getting money from the government. It's not a good way to live for them, and I wish them the very best.

You have to have 35 qualifying years of NI contributions to get a full state pension, not 30. If people don't work, or claim a benefit that protects NI contributions, how do they get a full pension? Can a woman still claim on her husband's contributions? Even so, they wouldn't get the full rate.

If unemployment provides such a desirable lifestyle you're welcome to quit your job and enjoy the benefits provided.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor well your response to my comment was taken totally out of context. I was answering a question by another poster. Do you work for the Sun?

That's not your friends fault though. You could have had a better pension if you had paid into one. You chose not to, as did she.

Not really seeing the problem.

@glitterytrainers
I dont mean to pile on you, but so many of these threads boil down to: but it's not FAIR!
Yep, it's not. Life isn't. That sucks.
I'm not gonna have a great pension either. Life, am I right.

She married someone with more money than my husband and can afford to not work the rest of the time

Good for her!!! Stop being jealous and start saving!!!

You have worked all your life yet not made any provision for your old age??? More fool you.

It's not your friends fault!!!

Bluebutterfly90 I agree with you to a certain extent - and this thread has now turned into something else entirely. I don't really care what other people get - I just think the system is a bit unfair that's all. And I'm not bashing a previous generation of women who stayed at home. My only point was that every time a pensioner is mentioned people always comment that they have worked all their life and deserve everything they get because they have worked for it. But I think unlike a previous generation this just won't be true.

What a nasty mean spirited thread. I paid NI contributions for 45 years, latterly as a higher rate tax payer. Now I’m being paid my state pension. Obviously I’ll have paid more than many of my contemporaries and I don’t give a stuff, in fact I’d never even thought of it until this morning. Comparison really is the thief of joy.

Why are you comparing your life with someone else’s? As long as you have food on the table and a warm home with a roof then why are you letting yourself get irritated about everyone else’s situations. I may be misunderstanding the question but I don’t see what your friend working 2 days a week has to do with you?

well your response to my comment was taken totally out of context. I was answering a question by another poster. Do you work for the Sun?

Err no.

You weren't answering a question by another poster,you addressed your post to me,therefore I responded.

What would you like to happen,people on benefits have nothing to live on?

If you have not made enough NI contributions by the time you can claim your state pension, I think you can claim pension credit to top up your state pension, but am happy to stand corrected if I am wrong.
I believe this is to ensure that all pensioners reach a certain level of income to survive on.

PositiveVibez I'm not jealous of her in the slightest. She doesn't want to work at all to be fair. And as I mentioned before I couldn't afford to pay into the pension scheme and can only now, by working hard and taking on a more responsible role with more money start saving a bit.

Although you do not need to have worked full time for the NI credits to a pension. You pay National Insurance contributions if you earn more than £166 a week. I’ve worked part time and happy to note that I’m still paying NI.

You'll get a proportion of the new State Pension if you have between 10 and 35 qualifying years.

GroopyHoonMain What about people who have and haven't worked? EG worked 20 or 30 years before becoming disabled? Ir worked then had to give up to care for a family member? It's not as black & white as have worked & haven't.