Pensions to rise with inflation - but what about working people???

[doris9034]

BBC Website: "Liz Truss and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt jointly agreed to guarantee that the state pension rises with inflation next year - thereby maintaining the "triple lock" - ahead of PMQs this morning, Downing Street says.
In a huddle with reporters after PMQs, the prime minister's official spokesman said the decision reflected the "unique position" of pensioners who are "unable to increase their earnings through work"

But I - and millions of others - are also unable to "increase our earnings through work" because we are in the middle income bracket, our employers do not have the capacity to raise our earnings in line with inflation and we don't qualify for any state related benefits.

So, whilst I 100% don't begrudge the helping of pensioners (many of whom are probably among the better off anyway), I can't help but feeling a bit annoyed that it always seems to be the ordinary working person / family that never gets any respite from the ever increasing cost of living.

What are you doing, you could give us all the inspiration to do it. Personally I am a Labour party member, regularly write to my Conservative MP to express my views but I'm sure you could give me some useful advice on what I should be doing.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow and that’s wonderful to hear. Sadly the statistics don’t lead us to that, and we have a aging population who are taken in by Tory bs and voting for things like ‘Boris is so funny though’ and ‘but all these immigrants are drowning the country - my gp can’t see me because of the immigrants’.

and here we are, Brexited and Toried to the eyeballs. A government who actively enables disaster capitalism and taking from all but the wealthy.

Thank you to your mum. She is in a distinct minority, and many of them still resent the influx of dark and light brown people.

It was Child Allowance... you collected it from the post office and it was paid to mothers only, not to fathers.

It was famly allowance in the 60s. If I remember correctly I think it was nothing for the first child, 8 bob (40p) for the second child and ten bob (50p) for the third and subsequent children. That was probably the early 60s, I can remember arguing with my siblings about how much we were "worth" which is a funny thing to argue about.

There was also the dole, unemployment benefit. I don't know how much that was as I never claimed it.

@Lemonlady22 are you saying there were zero benefits in existence in the 1960s?

because that is wrong

OP is your question more that if benefits and pensions are rising in line with inflation (read today that is has reached 10%) then why aren't wages rising too? As it stands, to balance the books for raising benefits and pensions, there will either need to be public spending cuts, raised taxes (which affect middle income earners predominantly) or a mixture of both. So if the average family who are middle income earners are paying more for bills, food, mortage/rent etc, what help do they receive? I think the answer is nothing. All that will happen is that more and more people will struggle to pay for basic things and if possible need to seek financial help from the government

Because women made sure their kids were fed first. Back in the dark ages, even conservative politicians understood that men were less reliably supportive of children's needs.

There’s some fucking nasty people on here, no one is allowed to be even the slightest bit better off than them, not allowed to get a pension even if they have worked for 50 plus years, anyone who happens to have a mortgage is a rich goady money grabber, the poor me shite that’s spouted by certain scum due to the fact that they don’t have what people who have worked hard for all there lives for is just unbelievable, ‘ give more to me as I’m poorer than them but I dont want to get off my arse and better myself’ is amazing , thought this was a place to educate people, it certainly isn’t!

You are 20 years younger than me, so you have time to work out a better solution!

Personally I favour going to Switzerland. Policy wise I prefer a wealth tax with assets & income taken into account. Much higher CGT, higher IHT & more money spent on the young & education. Scrap the NHS & implement a system like the one in France.

It's not a race to the bottom!! The question shouldn't be 'if I can't have income that rises with inflation, why should pensioners?', it should be 'why can't I have income that rises with inflation'.

Everybody always brings up non-means tested benefits like the winter fuel payment in these threads. The simple fact is, it's less expensive to deliver these to everyone than to means test them. Simple economics.

There’s some fucking nasty people on here, no one is allowed to be even the slightest bit better off than them, not allowed to get a pension even if they have worked for 50 plus years, anyone who happens to have a mortgage is a rich goady money grabber, the poor me shite that’s spouted by certain scum due to the fact that they don’t have what people who have worked hard for all there lives for is just unbelievable, ‘ give more to me as I’m poorer than them but I dont want to get off my arse and better myself’ is amazing , thought this was a place to educate people, it certainly isn’t!

Is this irony?

It's certainly not a logical argument.

I have a mortgage, a large one on a London house. Don't think I'm a rich goady money grabber,

Don't receive any benefits but certainly don't look down on those who do as fucking nasty people & don't see why their benefits can't rise inline with inflation.

You don't seriously think they're doing it to be 'nice' though, do you? It's because they want the group most likely to vote to think 'well, they've protected the triple link, so they do care about me' when they hold a stubby pencil above a box.

Why not?

Because you save every month into the government pension fund ( national insurance contributions)

@Cuppasoupmonster

What's my age got to do with anything?
Do you ask because I’ve read GBS?

You literally don't though. That's not how it works

Why not?

Because you have to pay NI for over three decades. Hardly a handout then is it?

My (labour voting) parents are very poor. In social housing (thank goodness), worked hard all their lives in low-pay jobs, are in their eighties and scared to put the fucking heating on. They also won't take anything from me. Many, many people are in this position. It's so depressing that so bloody many of you can't think of anything better to do than punch down.

But it is how it was set up and sold to the people who are now pensioners

Because you save every month into the government pension fund ( national insurance contributions)

You're not saving though. You are paying for those generations above you, and future generations will pay for you when you retire.

And even today to get state pension you need to have paid on for a certain length of time

But it is how it was set up and sold to the people who are now pensioners

was it?

I have to have 35 years of contributions but if I retire at 69 which is what they are looking at pushing it out too, I will have paid 52 years of contributions. Do you think I will get a refund?

But it's never been a savings scheme. If it was, state pensions would be very much smaller...