Nick Robinson on the Today programme said that people affected by withdrawing the Winter Fuel Allowance were "the wartime generation". AIBU to think he's wrong?

[HauntedBungalow]

Also, I am genuinely bored of this British obsession with referencing World War II when talking about unrelated random subjects.

World War II ended 80 years ago. The "wartime generation" don't need a Winter Fuel Allowance because they're all already dead, barring the odd 97 year old who is still living at home and paying all bills themselves.

Does it matter if its being funded by energy companies instead of the government? How do you propose identify who "needs it most"?

No it’s not £11.44 x 37.5 hour week x 52.2 = £22,393.80.

I agree with this and also with a previous poster that says that ageism on MN is rife. I don't understand how some can call out wealthy pensioners for accepting £200 a year WFA while many households earning over £100k are accepting child benefit each month, making use of free childcare places etc.

I don't begrudge any of these state benefits at all but I think it is hypocritical to say that one is unacceptable because it benefits older people while another is acceptable beacuse it benefits younger people.

My mum is 85 so was born about six months ahead of the war starting.

I am really fed up with all this furure over the winter fuel payment. The pension goes up by well over £400 next year - pensioners are not going to be worse off. And many of them will still get it, or get other things like attendance allowance.

As I said on the youngsters lacking resilience thread, I wish people were so bothered about our young. But then the MSM is right wing and the elderly are more likely to be Tory supporters, and I suppose, are the ones generally still buying newspapers.

I really hope Labour don't back down on this. There are far better ways of spending that money. Including on childcare.

And to the pp who says it's hypocritical to fund childcare - it's so people can work and pay taxes to fund pensions and other benefits.

The current “New State Pension”
is £221.20 a week x 52 = £11,502.40.

For those who became eligible before 2016 the Basic State pension is £169.50 a week x 52 = £8,814.

Pension Credit tops up pension to £218.15 a week x 52 = £11,343.80

So only those pensioners who don’t qualify for the full new state pension get pension credit. This is primarily people who reached 65 before 2016 .

I know everyone is talking about the £400 increase but that only starts in April 2025 so what about winter 2024?

I don’t think someone on just the state pension should miss out on the WFA. That is why £20k would be a fairer cut off point.

The whole WFP is a mess and too often going to people who do not need it. We are even sending it to UK pensioners who have moved to warmer countries abroad! This has gone on for years. Thank goodness it's being looked at now.

However - we are rapidly moving to a society where it doesn't benefit you to work hard all your life and save. The resentment in certain areas is tangible. If you only have a state pension then it means you haven't worked outside the home. It means the working population are shelling out to support those who don't work. I'm not talking about those who cannot work due to illness, but those who choose not to work. It really isn't sustainable.

You don’t get child benefit if you earn above 50K.

Not quite. it used to reduce at £50k and stop at £60k. Jeremy Hunt changed that in the last Budget so it now reduces at £60k and stops at £80k.

I suspect it may go back to where it was.

Also each parent (in the same household) can earn just under the threshold and still get it.

Yes, which leads to some really unfair outcomes.

I never understood why they didn’t make the cap based on household income if they were going to cap it.

Child benefit used to be universal

Maybe he meant the Falklands 😭

Because it costs money to support and feed and clothe a child. Child benefit was capped to the first 2 children, and also then became means tested under the last Tory government. Didn’t hear the older generation protesting about that.

Depends on how old you are. NMW changes with age. Lots of benefits not available or reduced rate to under 25s

Again, I have nothing at all against child benefit (which I also receive). Yes it costs money to feed and clothe a child. I have two. I know this.

But as lots of us have said on this thread and others, lots of pensioners just above the threshold for pension credits will lose out because of the cut to the WFA. These are people on a really low fixed annual income and they will struggle to heat their homes. Age UK and numerous other charities have said the same. This isn't about 'rich boomers' it's about people who will actually struggle this winter.

It also feels kind of bitter to say that some older people should struggle because they didn't protest against the child benefit cap.

The average heating bill for one/two people in one bed house is £1,300 a year.

£200 is little help for people who are struggling and wasted on those who don't need it.

Something had to be done.

I agree with the PP who said energy companies should be made to help the most vulnerable.

Who despises them? I love my parents, I think they are great. I'm eternally grateful that they had the opportunity to move out of the poverty that their parents grew up in and make successful and comfortable lives. They have been incredibly generous and supported me where they could with university, first flat, cars, weddings and houses etc. They spend far more time than me worrying about what my inheritance would be- I'd much rather they spent it all ensuring they live their lives to the fullest whilst they can and paying for all the car they need when they need it.

But... they are still very well off people who don't need any extra cash to keep the heating on when others are living in poverty.

Ultimately age is not a good way to decide who needs support with heating costs. Benefits like this should be allocated according to financial need.

My DMum who is 96 is wartime generation.

Allowing for wartime roles (such as being a Bevan Boy or a land girl or a nurse) which started at 14 or 15,, I think it means those over about age 93.

The Royal Hospital Chelsea said during its Founders Day celebrations this year (which had a bit of a 80th anniversary theme) that they had 13 pensioners who had seen active service during WW2, one of whom had been at DDay.

So in the strictest sense, there aren't very many left.

But I think that if you mean it in a slightly more general sense, of the over 90s, who are frail, and who need extra warmth, or just extra care in the winter months when getting out and about outdoors is that bit more treacherous, and who are simply not in a position to boost their income; then yes it's a pool of people who are vulnerable.

Most pensioners are not rich. Those who perhaps were in their earlier retirement may well have seen their entire income/savings taken by care costs by the time they are 90.

I'd have changed the eligibility to all those on pensions credit, plus all the super-elderly (maybe as low as 80+, but certainly 90+)

My mum is 93 and was 14 at the end of WW2. I think the phrase was inaccurate.

I'm sure I read somewhere that part of the reason they picked the threshold was because quite a lot of pensioners don't claim PC they are entitled to and they also wanted to encourage them to do so.

Do you feel sorry for the 14000 people who died due to poor care in AE last year or the same number the year before or the year before that too???

Or don't they matter because they were killed as a direct result of Tory underfunding the NHS for many years?

@iwishihadknownmore who are you asking that question? I'd hope everyone feels terrible about that but I don't know whether you think those who support the cut to WFA or those who don't would be more likely to not care about underfunded NHS services?

It is a ridiculous mindset - I fear getting to the Care Home stage and having Vera Lynn inflicted upon me!

The average age of a Chelsea Pensioner is about 80.

Do they would be in their prime (in their 20s) in the 1960s. Not exactly Vera Lynne territory

He's wrongish. My late DH was born on D-day (we'd have celebrated his 80th with some style were he still here). So there are many people who were children during the war who are alive - they will be in their 80s, so vulnerable.

Labour has taken a technocratic decision to cut the fuel allowance (so I won't get it this year, a double-whammy since I have lost my DH, and with him his pension and his tax allowance) because they are pretty sure this age group votes Conservative. They are quite possibly wrong about that, but I daresay they think most of us will have contributed to the excess death statistics by the next election.