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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Is living on the state pension really that bad?

717 replies

cateringday · 21/02/2026 09:07

I mean, if you own your home then you’re getting around £250 a week just for bills and spends.
i have a tiny pension and DH has none. I am always worrying about this but then realised that we will have no rent or mortgage to pay.
im just wondering if it would be as awful as people make out? I hear stuff saying you need £300000 in pension pot to have a comfortable retirement, why would you need that much?

OP posts:
LoyalMember · 21/02/2026 21:44

Cat1504 · 21/02/2026 20:50

I get PIP …I go swimming…I do some bits of diy….and guess what ? …l meet up to socialise with my mates 😊

My wife's on PIP, is registered disabled, and still works four days a week as a NHS Nursing Assistant. She has to keep working, as we couldn't afford her not to.

Pardonthegarden · 21/02/2026 21:44

Indianajet · 21/02/2026 09:13

I am living on my state pension and a proportion of my late husband's private pension. My mortgage is paid off.
I only have myself and my dog to support, and can pay all bills with a bit left over for socialising.
There isn't a lot to spare, but it is certainly doable.

Glad you have this security and find it 'do-able'. But the question is about living on just the state pension, not having part of a private pension on top. So perhaps your answer suggests that state pension alone isn't enough?

Tacohill · 21/02/2026 21:54

Hereforthecommentz · 21/02/2026 21:34

Why would there be no council tax to pay?!

My grandma was on state pension and she didn’t need to pay it.
Perhaps the rules have changed now but it’s usually paid for in full or part if you receive state pension.

Even with CT to pay, £250 per week for 1 person is still a lot and is enough to live on.

Anonymouseposter · 21/02/2026 21:55

People who have PIP or a portion of their deceased husband’s private pension aren’t really living on the state pension alone. Pensioners can’t get PIP unless they were already receiving it before they retired. Attendance allowance has different criteria. I am on the old state pension. It’s less than £900 per month. I wouldn’t like to live on it. I do have a work pension from the NHS which is a similar amount so I’m not skint. Living on the state pension alone would be very tight but I guess there would be pension credit and other help. I pay £212 in council tax and a bit of income tax. Perhaps I wouldn’t be vastly worse off.

XenoBitch · 21/02/2026 21:59

Thechaseison71 · 21/02/2026 20:56

People can enjoy life without spending shitloads of cash lol.

If it's £250; a week yeah than easily. It's much less than I spend now.

I am on LCWRA on UC, which is less than the state pension.

I have no rent or mortgage, but life not luxury at all.

XenoBitch · 21/02/2026 22:02

Pddn · 21/02/2026 21:01

But funded by the taxpayer..... Which is everyone's business?

No. PP is on PIP. They are disabled. It is none of your fucking business TBH.

XenoBitch · 21/02/2026 22:03

LoyalMember · 21/02/2026 21:44

My wife's on PIP, is registered disabled, and still works four days a week as a NHS Nursing Assistant. She has to keep working, as we couldn't afford her not to.

There is no such thing as "registered disabled".

Jasonandtheargonauts · 21/02/2026 22:04

Cashmereclothing · 21/02/2026 14:15

I am talking about 18 to 55 year olds without a severe disability. There are alot of them and they are in a position to be accountable.

Ok, you didn't initially specify that, you just said to end housing benefit altogether (which I took to also mean UC housing element, since the only people getting housing benefit are OAPs now) and to only have the basic UC and state pension.

So according to you, someone who has been made redundant or who is too unwell to work or who is disabled or has a disabled child, but who is 18-55 and doesn't have a "severe disability" has to die - unless they have friends or family to take them in and let them sleep on their floors if they have no spare bedrooms. Just because you think help with rent and any other "extras" should be abolished. Nice. Some might survive as street homeless for a while, but that is known to shorten life and make it almost impossible for someone to get a job too.

It would take money to implement your suggestion, there's currently no automatic screening for the criteria "18-55 and not severely disabled".
More money in the form of NHS costs and disability benefits for those who became "severely disabled", due to having basic necessary expenses double or triple their income and becoming homeless as a result.
Yet more money housing all those children, belonging to those adults, in orphanages. Along with the NHS costs from the harm that would cause. And the ongoing costs mentioned immediately above, when those children don't grow up to reach their full potential and become the type of people without the best education or health, who struggles to find employment.
Or perhaps you think we shouldn't build the orphanages and the children should be left to die homeless too. Especially the disabled ones who's parents can't work because they're the full time carer, but they come under your heading of "18-55 without severe disability" themselves, so no rental help for them, just £400/month UC, not even the £80/wk additional carer's allowance - because that's an "extra" beyond the basic allowance so according to your plan it wouldn't exist - to pay for absolutely everything, which is obviously not doable.

It makes no sense as a society to incur the costs of someone who is long term homeless until death, but who could have gone back into the workforce after a time as a jobseeker, just because you didn't want to allow help with rent during that time.
I suspect your "family planning decisions" parents would be forced to make would include illegal euthanasia of their disabled or young kids, since there's no way they can support them and look after them, especially if they're a single parent.
Lots more suicide as anyone currently renting and diagnosed with anything that means they can't get back to work after a few weeks (assuming they're diagnosed in a timely manner in the first place) would realise they're faced with imminent homelessness. Those as yet undiagnosed, or just unfortunate enough to have lost their job due to redundancy, also either ending their own lives, or alternatively becoming lawless thieves to obtain what they need, due to society labelling them worthless and blaming them for their own circumstances. Many wouldn't feel particularly as if they owed anyone else basic decency, when others aren't treating them with basic decency.

As I said, your idea would be a disaster that was ineffective for society, as well as all the individual people involved.

I shan't engage with you further since it's clear I'm also right about you thinking majority of benefits claimants are scroungers.
You're also attempting to derail the thread since it's about pensions and you're talking about benefits reforms for 18-55 year olds.

TinkerTailorLadyThinker · 21/02/2026 22:13

Tacohill · 21/02/2026 21:54

My grandma was on state pension and she didn’t need to pay it.
Perhaps the rules have changed now but it’s usually paid for in full or part if you receive state pension.

Even with CT to pay, £250 per week for 1 person is still a lot and is enough to live on.

That's completely wrong.

As far as I know everyone pays council tax with a discount for a single occupier.

Certainly being state pension ages doesn't mean you don't pay CT- if only!

TinkerTailorLadyThinker · 21/02/2026 22:15

LoyalMember · 21/02/2026 21:44

My wife's on PIP, is registered disabled, and still works four days a week as a NHS Nursing Assistant. She has to keep working, as we couldn't afford her not to.

So how does she qualify for PIP?

I assumed it was only for anyone who was so ill they couldn't work at all.
Although it now seems to capture conditions that are mental health / neurodiverse issues rather than physical disability.

XenoBitch · 21/02/2026 22:17

TinkerTailorLadyThinker · 21/02/2026 22:15

So how does she qualify for PIP?

I assumed it was only for anyone who was so ill they couldn't work at all.
Although it now seems to capture conditions that are mental health / neurodiverse issues rather than physical disability.

No, PIP is not an out of work benefit.
It is a payment given to disabled people to "level the field" as it were.

Anonymouseposter · 21/02/2026 22:18

Pensioners pay the same council tax as everyone else with a discount if they’re a single occupier. I think being on pension credit may mean there’s a deduction. Pensioners also pay income tax if they have any income over the threshold. If they are on PIP before retirement they keep entitlement but they can’t make a new claim after retirement age.

TinkerTailorLadyThinker · 21/02/2026 22:19

CollectionFour · 21/02/2026 18:44

We manage fine on state pension, pension credit, and PIP. No private pension or other private income. House is paid off. Council tax is paid. Live in London where we have free public transport and it goes almost everywhere we need to go. We have a car and use it about once a month. Don't pay road tax due to PIP. Lots of cheap entertainment including free swimming and gym at the council leisure centre, cheap exhibitions and places to visit (some are hugely discounted due to being on pension credit, eg £1 Tower of London, £3 Zoo). We often do theatre trips with last minute deals and DH goes as my carer. Lots of cheap/free events all over London including orchestral concerts, opera tickets, V&A, Kew, talks and public lectures. We use seat filler websites too which gets us cheap tickets to gigs, theatre, concerts etc.
Dental and optician costs are NHS, we have to pay for some things but much cheaper than private. Prescriptions are free. We get help towards bills and don't scrimp on heating (though we dress sensibly and don't walk around in shorts in winter). We get half price water bills due to medical condition. Cheap phone and broadband on a social tariff.
Socialising is mostly cheap, eg meeting up in friends' houses, a walk to the various parks. We don't spend money on things like nail treatments or coffees out, we've never done that so we don't miss it. We eat well by cooking from scratch at home, grow some of our own food in the back garden, and buying from community pantries.
We don't have a cleaner or gardener and don't feel we need one (we have all the time to clean and it doesn't get too dirty with 2 adults in the house, low maintenance garden). We do most basic maintenance and DIY on the house ourselves. No pets.
We go on holiday every couple of years, sometimes we join our dcs and dgcs so it works out quite cheap, but we've also had cruise bargains in the off season. We buy clothes when needed, not as a hobby. Things like furniture and appliances get replaced if they break, and we have enough savings to be able to pay for things like that, but it's infrequent. Pension Credit allows you to have savings up to £10k before PC is affected, which is a higher threshold than UC.
DCs will help out sometimes, eg they've given a tablet and phone as a joint gift. They live locally so no big costs for visiting them. We are able to pay for gifts for them and dgcs but nothing extravagant, but they are happy.

London theatres, concerts, cruises, swimming, gym, etc.

These are out of each of many people earning a good income let alone a pensioner on the state pension.

I'm sorry you have a health condition (and we don't know how severe it is) but benefits are not fair if someone can access luxuries that are out of reach of many people working very hard. This isn't a personal attack on you, but the system.

Pepperedpickles · 21/02/2026 22:21

TinkerTailorLadyThinker · 21/02/2026 22:15

So how does she qualify for PIP?

I assumed it was only for anyone who was so ill they couldn't work at all.
Although it now seems to capture conditions that are mental health / neurodiverse issues rather than physical disability.

You clearly have no knowledge of PIP at all. A simple google would tell you it’s not an out of work benefit, and it’s not means tested. You can still work and get PIP, and many do and the PIP they receive helps them to do this by covering the extra costs in working associated with being disabled.

Pickledonion1999 · 21/02/2026 22:24

TinkerTailorLadyThinker · 21/02/2026 22:15

So how does she qualify for PIP?

I assumed it was only for anyone who was so ill they couldn't work at all.
Although it now seems to capture conditions that are mental health / neurodiverse issues rather than physical disability.

You can work and claim PIP as long as the work does not contradict what you are claiming to have difficulties with. No idea how someone works as a Nursing assistant for four days a week presumably caring for others whilst having difficulties severe enough to warrant PIP themselves unless for MH i guess..

Thechaseison71 · 21/02/2026 22:24

Anonymouseposter · 21/02/2026 22:18

Pensioners pay the same council tax as everyone else with a discount if they’re a single occupier. I think being on pension credit may mean there’s a deduction. Pensioners also pay income tax if they have any income over the threshold. If they are on PIP before retirement they keep entitlement but they can’t make a new claim after retirement age.

Edited

Looked on turn to us calculator. According to that those getting a state pension of £221.29 a week don't pay council tax

Btw based it on my own council tsx

Is living on the state pension really that bad?
TinkerTailorLadyThinker · 21/02/2026 22:24

Pepperedpickles · 21/02/2026 22:21

You clearly have no knowledge of PIP at all. A simple google would tell you it’s not an out of work benefit, and it’s not means tested. You can still work and get PIP, and many do and the PIP they receive helps them to do this by covering the extra costs in working associated with being disabled.

I know more than you think.

I know it's not means tested. I know someone who receives it.

My gripe is it is unfair that it's not being used solely for associated costs of a disability, but enough to fund luxuries that many people working cannot afford.

XenoBitch · 21/02/2026 22:25

Thechaseison71 · 21/02/2026 22:24

Looked on turn to us calculator. According to that those getting a state pension of £221.29 a week don't pay council tax

Btw based it on my own council tsx

Edited

Hmm both my parents were on state pension and still had to pay council tax.

Thechaseison71 · 21/02/2026 22:26

XenoBitch · 21/02/2026 22:25

Hmm both my parents were on state pension and still had to pay council tax.

They had double the amount though . Not one basic pension between them

XenoBitch · 21/02/2026 22:26

TinkerTailorLadyThinker · 21/02/2026 22:24

I know more than you think.

I know it's not means tested. I know someone who receives it.

My gripe is it is unfair that it's not being used solely for associated costs of a disability, but enough to fund luxuries that many people working cannot afford.

Edited

PIP is not awarded due to costs. It is based on need. People need help with certain things... it is fuck all to do with money.
You can be a super high earner and still be entitled to PIP.

Tumbleweed101 · 21/02/2026 22:30

I'm going to be stuffed. I rent and I am single and I have been on a low wage all my working life so far, so only got the NEST workplace pension. I'm pretty sure living on £800 a month is going to be tough the way bills are increasing.

XenoBitch · 21/02/2026 22:32

Thechaseison71 · 21/02/2026 22:26

They had double the amount though . Not one basic pension between them

Edited

Well, as of a few days ago, my my mum is having to pay it on her own.
She does not have the spoons to say her DH died and to get a discount right now.

berlinbaby2025 · 21/02/2026 22:32

Tumbleweed101 · 21/02/2026 22:30

I'm going to be stuffed. I rent and I am single and I have been on a low wage all my working life so far, so only got the NEST workplace pension. I'm pretty sure living on £800 a month is going to be tough the way bills are increasing.

You’ll get your rent paid for or some of it.

Pickledonion1999 · 21/02/2026 22:34

Tumbleweed101 · 21/02/2026 22:30

I'm going to be stuffed. I rent and I am single and I have been on a low wage all my working life so far, so only got the NEST workplace pension. I'm pretty sure living on £800 a month is going to be tough the way bills are increasing.

State pension is not £800 a month. It works out at closer to 1k assuming you have paid full NI contributions.

LoyalMember · 21/02/2026 22:34

XenoBitch · 21/02/2026 22:03

There is no such thing as "registered disabled".

I can assure you she is, or whatever the term is now. She has a Disability Badge for her car.