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.

But why on earth couldn’t they have eventually gone back to work in the decades after???

Why not go back to work once all children are secondary age?

’No childcare’ is an excuse for 40+ years of being unemployed?? WTF?

Personally I don't much care either way ....triple lock or another freeze....I won't get my state pension for another 10 years...loads could happen or not happen before then...I would like to see my mum get it though

Tory party will always look after Tory voters. It’s ludicrous they can back track on virtually everything but then do this. loads of my friends parents retired at 50 on good final salary schemes with a lovely state pension on top once they passed SP age. Absolute gravy train for that generation. No wonder they live so long!

My mum didn’t work. Through choice. She just didn’t like it. She was perfectly capable but on the odd occasion she tried a job she chucked it in. Now she gets pension credit, and other benefits to go with it. She voted Leave, twice, and for Boris. Her and my Dad have a teeny mobile home in the uk and a dodgy Spanish apartment along with many of their contemporaries. In my brother’s name so they can still grab their benefits. Love them dearly, this is not ok, and they should not be milking a straining system, again as so many are.

I also struggle with this ‘work hard’ phrase, generally spouted by Tories to justify their hoarding of wealth, largely gained through circumstance and opportunities than just hard work.

isn’t hard work the person with 3 jobs fitting around their kids to do the best they can? Does going to a school without the ability or resources to support individual learning needs mean you didn’t work hard?

@kitcat15 you absolutely should get your pension. And as an aside, thank you for all your work in the NHS. I’ve been on the receiving end of it a few times over the last 2-3yrs and regardless of the issues accessing it, once we’ve been there, the care is incredible. My argument is, for your mum, she’s clearly older and should get full triple lock. Would you accept a lower, increase of say, 5%?

I expect they will bring in means testing for state pension at some point, but presumably they’ll need everyone paying in in some way even if they’re not going to get it, otherwise it will still be unaffordable. And you can guarantee it will only affect younger people, the boomers will still be protected.

I paid off my mortgage at 47 ....I'm now 57 ....retired and returned nhs so working 2 days a week and picking uparound the same as when I worked 5 days a week....I have 6 figure savings which include my nhs lump sum ...I will quit working before 60 but when I'm 67 I think I'm entitled to a full state pension and everything that comes with it ....I've paid my NI .....why shouldn't I get my state pension?

Is this a fucking joke? So you have retired at least 10 years earlier than younger generations will be able to, have 6 figure savings, have decided to return to work and are now earning for 2 days a week what others need to work 5 days to get and you paid off your mortgage at only 47 years old (wow!) so minimal overheads. And you wonder why younger generations resent paying your pension?

This is exactly the attitude people are talking about.

In the 1960s, 70s a lot of companies would not employ women. The equality act didn’t protect like it does today. Women often had to give up work when they were pregnant. They were expected to be looked after by their husbands and their pension.
thankfully that has all changed. But I don’t think it’s fair bashing older women. People don’t realise how it’s only recently we have had true equality. In my first job in 1987 my colleague was asked to leave when she told us she was pregnant. No one questioned it. i had to learn to type at school. That’s what girls did.

Exactly. No benefits.

@Iliveonahill clearly though, the issue is that historically, they relied on one persons NI contributions to cover two peoples pensions. Can you imagine that now?

@Blossomtoes I don't believe the thread is advocating the immediate removal of old age benefits (it's not "their" pension, there is no pot, they are recipients of state handouts). Just not propping up its value at the expense of people with their whole lives ahead of them.

@Iliveonahill but there was...

I had a 25 year mortgage same as most people ..... nothing surprising there 🤷‍♀️..... I retired at 55 same as the majority of my nursing colleagues.....got my lump sum at 55 same as my nursing colleagues.....and yes I get a pension and a salary ( for 2 days a week work) which together almost equals my previous salary.....personally I don't care whether the triple lock comes in or not .....far too much could happen in the next 10 years before I qualify....but yes...I definitely think I should get a state pension at 67....I've paid tax and NI for 40 plus years.....why should I get no pension? .... what an odd point of view 🙄

Well, there were severe labour shortages in the 60s and 70s, so I doubt employers could afford to be that fussy.

There might have been discrimination in the 60’s, but why can’t that generation have gone back to work in the 80’s or 90’s??

@kitcat15 you’ve not read the room here, sorry. It’s not normal for people to have a mortgage at 22 now, nor to retire at 55. And did public servants get a pay out at 55 as normal course of business?? What for?

People don’t realise how it’s only recently we have had true equality.

I don't think there's true equality now

But people getting state pensions now did have mortgages at 22 ...thats the point...we did everything younger.....and nurses younger than me now can still retire and return at 55....this is very normal still

@kitcat15 I got my own first mortgage at 20, thanks to an older boyfriend who was working whilst I was still at uni - agreed this was not unusual. But retiring at 55, means the state has to support ‘you’ and by ‘you’ I mean the demographic, not you personally, (please don’t take offence) means the youngsters might be paying your pension for 30+ years - that costs a lot. Probably more in real terms then you paid in.

I guess there's pluses and minuses to every generation....but i'm still paying tax on my 2 days for now ...... probably more tax than a lot of full time workers pay....but nursing is a young person's game....very few age 60 plus nurses where I work.....we all burnt out a lot earlier....but the younger generation today get things we didn't....such as free childcare .... .....free school lunches in key stage 1.....extended mat leave ( I was back at work at 13 weeks with all 3 of mine) ....no equality for part time working .....I'm not moaning...thats just the way it was then

The thing is @kitcat15 it's not that I think you shouldn't get a state pension is just how out of touch your post is. It's the exact reason youngster's are resentful of paying pensions for retirees.
Firstly I assume your training was free and you received a bursary? Then you could afford to buy your own home at 22 which was then paid off in full at 47. You were then able to retire at 55 (on your nursing pension) which means should you live till 95 (as my nan did) you would actually be receiving your (nurses) pension for more years than you worked! Then on top of that you will receive the state pension which is being paid for by people who cannot afford to buy, who live in rented homes, who have student loans and who cannot afford to retire themselves until the age of 67 at least. Then that pension that they are paying for is subject to the triple lock which their benefits or pay are not. Surely you can see where the resentment is coming from?

@kitcat15 DP is a nurse (and I'm NHS too). We're looking at working until 70 probably, if retirement is even still a thing by the time we get there and we don't burn out or die first. We're also being offered far below inflation pay rises. So, in real terms, pay cuts. We've recently potentially lost our mortgage offer. Our generation's lives and plans are falling apart around us. We've done everything 'right'. Both have degrees, professional jobs. No children btw so don't benefit from any of the things you've listed. They're too expensive.

Probably worth pointing out you're likely working 2 12 hour days, not a 'normal' working day.

I can't imagine it's normal now for nurses to retire at 55.

@Cartor2 it has been till now but they moved everyone onto a different pension scheme recently so those days are gone. Or will be once this batch of older nurses go.

@Faciadipasta speak for yourself and maybe the young people in your family but if I asked the young people in MY family if they resented paying for pensioners or have any resentment towards pensioners at all they would laugh in my face, my DS and DN's were happy for me when I got my pension last year.