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Original poster

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

592 replies

doris9034 · 19/10/2022 15:57

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.

OP posts:
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7
Faciadipasta · 20/10/2022 07:34

Sure @Oldsu but do they agree with the triple lock for pensions only? Not for pensions or wages too that wouls benefit them as well? Somehow I doubt it.

Faciadipasta · 20/10/2022 07:35

Sorry benefits or wages. My last post didn't actually make any sense.

kitcat15 · 20/10/2022 07:35

Very normal now @Cartor2 ...my SIL is 54 and a nurse and just putting in to retire at 55 next march..

Abraxan · 20/10/2022 07:39

They didn’t have to it’s just ironic they’re now the demographic to say ‘don’t have kids if you can’t afford them’ etc.

It was the 'done thing' back then, though many did work at least part time too once their children were at school, ime. Childcare wasn't available in the way it is now. There weren't nurseries and child minders around in the same way as now in most places, so going back to work was harder.

And it's right and something I assume they had to decide too. Can we afford to have a child on our salary? Can we afford to have one even if I give up work?

I assume that they had to make those decisions too as times weren't exactly simple in the 70s and 80s money wise. Stay at home mums didn't get any other handouts compared to now - from what I remember.

My parents had to deal with 3 day weeks, money cuts and the rest during those times. They had to decide if they could afford children or not.

Iliveonahill · 20/10/2022 07:48

kitcat15 · 20/10/2022 07:35

Very normal now @Cartor2 ...my SIL is 54 and a nurse and just putting in to retire at 55 next march..

All my teaching friends and police friends are retiring before the age of 60.

The Govt has only promised the triple lock until April. That could change easily.

The Govt, yet again is doing a great job dividing the nation. Old/young, middle earners/minimum wage etc. By dividing the nation we don’t come together as one group to defend our rights. Union rights will be scrapped next.

kitcat15 · 20/10/2022 07:48

@Faciadipasta It wasn't free training like today....there was no uni ....you were an employee from day one ....and the responsibility was there...i was running a ward and holding keys as a student nurse.....and we paid NI and taxes right thru our training .....unlike students today....I'm certainly not resentful that I'm paying towards children getting free nursery and free school meals in key stage 1 and tax credits all on low wages ( all of which I would have made a massive difference to me as a young mum) I'm made up my children get this
....I'm not resentful that I paid 15% interest on.my mortgage and young people don't today....I had it fucking hard but I don't begrudge paying for your kids to have things mine didn't.....and like I said I don't give a flying fuck about the triple lock ...but I definitely think I should get a state pension...but don't you worry your little self about me living to 95....I've had cancer 3 times so very unlikely to live that long....you need to let some of your resentment go....bad for your health 🙄...

Cartor2 · 20/10/2022 07:49

kitcat15 · 20/10/2022 07:35

Very normal now @Cartor2 ...my SIL is 54 and a nurse and just putting in to retire at 55 next march..

Well that's 2 , I wonder what the wider nursing population retire at. Did you both go on full pensions with no reduction?

toulet · 20/10/2022 07:50

My parents had to deal with 3 day weeks, money cuts and the rest during those times. They had to decide if they could afford children or not.

Birth rates have plummeted though, one of the biggest impacts is housing costs.

toulet · 20/10/2022 07:53

....I'm not resentful that I paid 15% interest on.my mortgage and young people don't today...

How many times do we have to hear this rhetoric? 15% interest rates is no different to 6% today because of the cost of housing.

kitcat15 · 20/10/2022 07:54

Cartor2 · 20/10/2022 07:49

Well that's 2 , I wonder what the wider nursing population retire at. Did you both go on full pensions with no reduction?

Show quote history

Of course...on the old pensions we can all go at 55 with full nursing pension and lump sum. Why would we stay longer....I don't know a single nursing colleague who's worked full time past 58

Bunnyfuller · 20/10/2022 07:55

Make no mistake, anything positive they do to pensions is to bribe the older generation to stay with them, because they know they’ve lost everyone else.

Pensions will have to change, there are too few paying in at too low levels (because zero hours, low wages, poverty trap, just don’t) and too many alive on state pension. Who are also creating massive demand on the NHS.

Iliveonahill · 20/10/2022 07:55

Very few people went to university. My dad went to work at 15. Most of his friends did. All of my school friends went to work at 16. That’s at least 5 years before their uni mates started work. I’m sure it was less than 12% of students that went to uni when I was 18. It just wasn’t the norm. It was easier to work at 16 then. My dad went into a building site and asked for a job. There was minimum H&S. He didn’t get sick pay. He paid for a private pension with United Friendly and by the time he was 65 it wasn’t worth the paper it was written on as again there was no protection on pensions. My uncle lost his pension when his employers ceased trading.

a lot of my friends will inherit. My parents had nothing to inherit. No one owned houses in the 1950s except the exceptionally west my or educated.

I'm really not sure who has it better.

kitcat15 · 20/10/2022 07:55

toulet · 20/10/2022 07:53

....I'm not resentful that I paid 15% interest on.my mortgage and young people don't today...

How many times do we have to hear this rhetoric? 15% interest rates is no different to 6% today because of the cost of housing.

🙄

toulet · 20/10/2022 07:55

.I had it fucking hard but I don't begrudge paying for your kids to have things mine didn't.

I'm certainly not resentful that I'm paying towards children getting free nursery and free school meals in key stage 1 and tax credits all on low wages ( all of which I would have made a massive difference to me as a young mum) I'm made up my children get this

So your children do get these things? I don't resent your children getting tax credits even though I've never had them (they aren't universal).

Testina · 20/10/2022 07:56

edwinbear · 19/10/2022 16:08

YANBU. My mum is in receipt of a state pension, plus a £40k p.a. (inflation linked) widows pension courtesy of my dad. She lives in a huge 6 bed house, alone, no mortgage, £250k in the bank. She gets winter fuel allowance, all the other allowances pensioners get and has the brass neck to bang on about how poor she is.

The thing is though, for every pensioner like my mum, there are (at a guess) another 10, trying to scrape by on the state pension. Many of them in ill health, unable to afford to put the heating on or the TV for a bit of company. The issue is, I suppose, how do you distinguish between the two for the purpose of the triple lock? I genuinely don’t know.

Yeah, how hard it would be to look at a tax return and say, “oh look - this one has state pension and this one has state pension + £40K, let’s treat them differently.”

I mean, I’m not saying I’d propose that morally, or that it wouldn’t be political suicide… but it’s not “hard” 🤣

toulet · 20/10/2022 07:57

@kitcat15 why the rolling of eyes? you don't have to like it but it's not fake news.

kitcat15 · 20/10/2022 07:57

Iliveonahill · 20/10/2022 07:55

Very few people went to university. My dad went to work at 15. Most of his friends did. All of my school friends went to work at 16. That’s at least 5 years before their uni mates started work. I’m sure it was less than 12% of students that went to uni when I was 18. It just wasn’t the norm. It was easier to work at 16 then. My dad went into a building site and asked for a job. There was minimum H&S. He didn’t get sick pay. He paid for a private pension with United Friendly and by the time he was 65 it wasn’t worth the paper it was written on as again there was no protection on pensions. My uncle lost his pension when his employers ceased trading.

a lot of my friends will inherit. My parents had nothing to inherit. No one owned houses in the 1950s except the exceptionally west my or educated.

I'm really not sure who has it better.

No one has it better...its swings and roundabouts ....its not a race to the bottom....although you would think so listening to some on here

Faciadipasta · 20/10/2022 07:57

@kitcat15 I'm not trying to make a personal attack at you. I'm really not sure why you're implying I want you to die soon. That's a massive ridiculous escalation. My point is just that older people don't realise how lucky they are financially compared to youngsters. And suggesting because kids get free school meals for 3 years, or that you got 8 weeks leas paid maternity pay makes it equal that you get to retire at 55 while we have to work until at least 67 is laughable.
And btw nurse training isn't 'free' these days at all. Student nurses work on the wards but for no pay.

Iliveonahill · 20/10/2022 07:57

Testina · 20/10/2022 07:56

Yeah, how hard it would be to look at a tax return and say, “oh look - this one has state pension and this one has state pension + £40K, let’s treat them differently.”

I mean, I’m not saying I’d propose that morally, or that it wouldn’t be political suicide… but it’s not “hard” 🤣

Show quote history

And yet again tax those who saved.

kitcat15 · 20/10/2022 08:02

toulet · 20/10/2022 07:55

.I had it fucking hard but I don't begrudge paying for your kids to have things mine didn't.

I'm certainly not resentful that I'm paying towards children getting free nursery and free school meals in key stage 1 and tax credits all on low wages ( all of which I would have made a massive difference to me as a young mum) I'm made up my children get this

So your children do get these things? I don't resent your children getting tax credits even though I've never had them (they aren't universal).

Yes...My Gds get free school meals as they are key stage 1...they also got 30 hours free nursery

Testina · 20/10/2022 08:02

@kitcat15 “.I'm not resentful that I paid 15% interest on.my mortgage and young people don't today”

Oh don’t embarrass yourself. There is so much easy to read debunking of that little gem. I had a mortgage in the 80s myself. Us oldies look like dicks when we trot that one out.

Oh and do share exactly how long you were paying this 15% for.

Pensions to rise with inflation - but what about working people???
toulet · 20/10/2022 08:03

Very few people went to university. My dad went to work at 15.

But government policy changed. Lots of jobs that didn't require degrees now need one. 15 yr olds today have stricter laws around employment so it's not comparable.

kitcat15 · 20/10/2022 08:04

Faciadipasta · 20/10/2022 07:57

@kitcat15 I'm not trying to make a personal attack at you. I'm really not sure why you're implying I want you to die soon. That's a massive ridiculous escalation. My point is just that older people don't realise how lucky they are financially compared to youngsters. And suggesting because kids get free school meals for 3 years, or that you got 8 weeks leas paid maternity pay makes it equal that you get to retire at 55 while we have to work until at least 67 is laughable.
And btw nurse training isn't 'free' these days at all. Student nurses work on the wards but for no pay.

Student nurses don't work on the wards...they are supernumerary on.placements....they don't pay tax or NI

toulet · 20/10/2022 08:05

@kitcat15 I was confused by the contradiction.

toulet · 20/10/2022 08:10

@Testina thank you, my parents house was 40/50k in the 80s on an interest only mortgage. Those houses are about 1.8m now, They certainly don't tell me how it's so much easier for me!