To ask why JSA is virtually half State Pension per week

[Oilnwater]

I'm probably clueless and totally missing something which is why I'm on here asking for help in understanding ......
Currently a single person aged over 25 would get £73.10 per week JSA. A single person basic pension is £129.20.
Why the huge disparity? Who comes up
With the figures? Is there a formula?
It just strikes me as odd that both single people would in theory be facing the same housing / petrol / fuel (the winter fuel allowance isn't much) food, normal everyday costs. Why the huge difference?

I guess JSA is a temporary situation - it’s enough money to survive on between jobs, not to live on in the long term.

I could understand that but the living in between costs are still the same.

A person who has worked until retirement should have more money as they have paid into the system.

Anyone whose only income is state pension would receive housing benefit as well. Same with JSA. so neither have to worry about housing costs (unless they are mortgage owing homeowners or in private rentals costing more than HB).

The government set the amounts, which are both extremely low in my opinion.

(I don't claim benefits, even though I am physically disabled, and even if I couldn't work, my husband would be expected to "keep" me, which is also a bit messed up on my opinion).

But, to answer your question, I believe that the amount people are paid on jsa is kept at a ridiculously low rate, to encourage more people into work.

Zero hours contracts that most people seem to be on is another thing which I think is fundamentally flawed, as there are no guarantees on what hours you would be working, and as far as I'm aware, even if you're not being given hours you're technically employed, and if you quit then you can't claim jsa as you've chosen to leave employment, although I could be completely wrong, I have no experience.

One is to encourage you to better your own life and the other is to allow you to live comfortably (to an extent) for the remainder of your life.

And elderly people are more likely to need additional services like taxis due to poor mobility with age vs a fit adult.

JSA is a pitiful amount to live on, and for many people it's not a short term thing. Jobs are very hard to come by in some communities. It's heartless, imo.

Because a high proportionate of pension age people vote.
And a low proportion of unemployed people vote.
It's as simple as that.

It's because the Conservatives put forward policies that reward their voters

Elderly people vote 🤷‍♀️

Maybe its the reward for working all your life ? After all you have paid into the system.

You could also ask why Carer's allowance is only £66.15 a week. It's a fucking disgrace.

JSA is £57.90 a week...at least on Universal credit it is

Drpeppered that's the rate for under 25s
Who are even less likely to vote (statistically)
Not a coincidence

Because a high proportionate of pension age people vote. And a low proportion of unemployed people vote. It's as simple as that.

I came here to say this ^

JSA is temporary. Pension is not.

This means that Pension needs to accommodate more financial planning.

I think this is a good question. I'd like to know the answer, but I suspect there isn't one. I remember a long time ago seeing/reading something in which it was explained that the base figure for "income support" was essentially sucked out of someone's thumb, it was admitted that no actual data about cost of living had gone into calculating it.

lauriefairycake so was it significantly more when labour were in power between 1997 and 2010 then?

Yes Smiley - tax credits was double (for me at the time)

Because jobseekers is for the “feckless workshy” and the state pension is for “little old folk who’ve worked hard all their lives and paid their stamp”.

Of course I know that’s not true but that’s what daily mail readers and the likes seem to believe. I think there is an element of lots of people are fortunate not to have needed JSA in their lives but everyone of a certain age is currently entitled to a state pension, so even if you’re not currently claiming it, the idea is we all will in the future (yeah right!), so we all have a vested interest in it not being utterly shit. Whereas nobody wants to have to claim JSA and so there’s a bit more of an “I’m alright Jack” attitude to it.

And the government can’t afford to piss of pensioners who as a group reliably turn out to vote.

"JSA is temporary. Pension is not."

ESA and Carer's allowance are not temporary. They're still a lot less than the state pension.

In addition to the state pension, pension age people on low incomes can also get top ups in the form of pension credit, more of their savings can be disregarded before their benefits are affected, and they are exempt from the bedroom tax. They also get a free bus pass (not means tested).

The system is much, much more generous to pension age people.

"everyone of a certain age is currently entitled to a state pension"

No they're not - it depends on their national insurance record.

Another part of this discussion then is, why is JSA for under 25 year olds even lower? How can the Government get away with it? It's age discrimination is it not?

The Equality Act 2010 says that you must not be discriminated against because:
• you are (or are not) a certain age or in a certain age group
• someone thinks you are (or are not) a specific age or age group, this is known as discrimination by perception
• you are connected to someone of a specific age or age group, this is known as discrimination by association

oilinwater but they are not.
For example since no one should be on JSA for more than 6 months or so they shouldn’t really need to buy clothes, furnishings etc but people could feasibly life off a pension for 30 years.

You could also ask why any universal credit award is reduced by the amount of carer's allowance someone gets.
It's all designed to make the unemployed find work. This is fine in theory, but in some places there just are no jobs, so then I personally think it's designed to make them despair and die, thus reducing the number of people who claim...

The person on JSA will be expected to pay transport for meetings at the job centre or face losing money. I’d need to get 2 buses at the cost of almost £8 per return trip.