£610 a week pension demand is insane

[Thisismyfinesthour]

Just read that there is an online petition doing the rounds for a £610 a WEEK pension demand to the government.
WTAF? Is the heat melting some peoples brains? It seems over 5000 have signed it.
Where do they think the money is coming from?

I’m not at pension age yet, but I worked a full career as a teacher, including being a head of a core subject, paid off my mortgage and had a pretty large (in my view) inheritance from my parents and my wealth is nowhere near that, even with a house owned outright in one of the most expensive areas of Wales. I’d say I’m representative of the middle earning pensioner really. Though MN seems to think £100k (more than twice what I ever earned) is middle earning (it’s not).

Also don’t forget that many DID pay into pensions but

• if the pension company went bankrupt, you lost all your money and that’s happened to quite a few. The laws protecting pensions and paying out at least a minimum% did not exist
• Gordon Brown did a pension raid in 1997 that cost £5bn annually forcing companies to reduce the account balances or benefits they’d promised their employees.

So a 60yr old today would have been working since 1980-82 (14 was school leaving age) and after working 17 yrs would have had to see their nest egg massively reduced. Then dot,com bust in 2001 and the echo in 2004 would have meant many were saving money as fast as the balances lost money, followed by the big crash in 2008 when this 60yr old was now over 40. Having such knock backs during the key working years where you start a nest egg means many of those approaching pension age are not at all financially prepared.

This is why record numbers of over 55s are in work. Those that still have their health are planning to work past state pension age as they can’t afford to not work.

You do realise, don’t you, that many pensioners who had children, would not have received any maternity pay at all, and many of us, very little?

And it will only get worse. The 45-59 age group is even poorer than the 60-65 were at the same age. So the petition is unreasonable for pensioners today, but pretty soon the government is going to have to raise state pension- it’s the worst in all Europe- because the basis of the weekly amount on the vast majority of pensioners being home owners with no mortgage is quickly eroding.

The clue is in "online petition". I'm starting one to have Katie Price elected MP then PM without an election.

Tbf it sounds like it on MN...

£60 a week for 9 months.

The pensions problem would be largely solved by doing away with final salary and/or career average pension schemes paid for from the public coffers. That way everyone is on a level playing field.
It would also make politicians sort it out because it would be their pension too. The savings could be used for a liveable basic state pension which people could top-up if they wanted a higher living standard.

I have a friend in this situation. She has a small private pension which after tax is £200 per month. Without that she would get pension credit and be much better off. Her rent and council tax take more than 2/3 of her income.

I’m a pensioner and a statistical anomaly. I don’t know anyone, pensioner or not who lives in a £1m house. Not a single one. I’m in Scotland.

Yeah, that won’t even get a mention in parliament, except to raise a few laughs in the commons bar later tonight.

It's just stupid old fuckers who didn't bother paying into a pension and expect the tax payer to pay the bills for them. For transparency, I am also an old fucker. I did however put by for my retirement because all my working life I knew that one day I would need my pension.

I do hope though that this opens the eyes of every woman. You need to be financially independent. You need to safeguard your future. Never rely on someone else.

Official DWP figures published in March 2026 show around 13.4 million people, 1 in 5 of us, are living in relative poverty after housing costs. That includes 1.69 million pensioners. Before housing costs, 16% of all UK pensioners live in relative poverty; that figure goes down to "only" 14% after housing costs are taken into account. (That drop takes into account the number of homeowners who, despite being "property-rich" are still in relative poverty.)

So while you may not know any of these poor pensioners, they certainly do exist.

The reason why the state pension has increased by a larger percentage than other benefits over recent years is because, a few years ago, it was insufficient for anyone to live on. Having said that, as someone who became a pensioner last year, I agree that the triple lock needs to go and that other “freebies” e.g. free prescriptions, should only be available to those who truly need them.

I also agree that housing is a major issue for younger people, and most of us oldies, having children and grand children of our own, would wish it otherwise. But I truly have no comprehension at all as to why pensioners as a whole or any individual pensioner is to blame for that. Should we not have bought our first home or moved up the housing ladder? Who should we have voted for? Should we now just throw ourselves off the nearest cliff so that youngsters can have it easier?

Oh, and by the way, my husband and I were flat broke when our children were small, as most of my friends and colleagues were. It never occurred to us to resent the fact that our parents (who were not wealthy) had a better standard of living than we did. It was, and still is for most people, the natural way of things.

Of course, many pensioners will be wealthy (although there will be varying interpretations of what “wealthy” actually means). I’m still working and on a good salary, and I’ve been throwing money into my pensions rather than splashing money on other things, such as expensive cars (which many younger people, including those with families, appear to have). My husband and I will probably fall into that category.

The reason why many pensioners are wealthy is because, around the time of retirement, you are likely to have more assets than at any other time - if you have been prudent. Moving from saving to spending starts at retirement and, again if you live prudently, your money will last until you die. That is the whole point of saving into a pension.

And, if your pensions are defined contribution rather than defined benefit, then you will need “hundreds of thousands” in your pension to have any sort of decent retirement at all. If you have DC pensions and don’t understand this, I strongly urge you to start learning about pensions right now.

There is a nasty vibe to some discussions about pensioners at the current time. If I think too much about it, I can become fearful about where this may ultimately take us. But one thing for sure, unless you are unlucky, then you too will be old one day. Probably worth remembering.

I would imagine that one reason for this is that people are living longer than they used to and, therefore, people are not getting inheritances until they are older. I’m a state pensioner and still have a living parent. By the way, if there is anything to inherit upon her death, it will be going straight to my children

Your maths is way off. Have a look at the S&P 500 growth over the last 30 years if nothing else. I am that 60 year old and I know I have benefited from both house price inflation and investment returns. And I don't know a single person who left school at 14!!

That is one reason, as population growth is down to more people over age 65 than ever before and immigration. Birth rates have tanked.

Both my parents were gone by the time I was 45. No inheritance to speak of after debts and direct cremation expenses were paid. But I realise I’m not the norm!

I know lots of pensioners who live in houses worth more than £1 million. I also know loads of pensioners with very valuable pensions. Private pensions are actually the biggest source of personal wealth in the UK. Pensioners as a population are wealthy compared to every other age group. The doesn't mean every single pensioner is wealthy.

Those pensioners didn’t get any maternity allowance at all. And you only had to live on that income for a year, assuming no partner was involved.

Sure thing, but my husband is also 60 and has led a much different life that is in line with what I wrote and also numerous sociological studies on that generation. Perhaps you’re one of the lucky ones, as again we are talking averages not individuals.

https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/over-55-year-old-tenants-are-fastest-growing-renting-group

https://ilcuk.org.uk/the-forgotten-generation/
“With many ‘Gen Xers’ (those born between 1965 and 1980) having entered the job market too late to benefit from final salary pensions, yet too early to benefit from schemes such as auto-enrolment, this group is expected to face significant challenges in retirement, if policymakers fail to respond urgently.
There are currently 14 million Gen Xers in the UK – 1 in 5 of the total population. On average, people in this group save just £200 into their pension pots each month and 33% of Generation X are at high risk of retiring with insufficient incomes. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic putting additional strain on finances, the case for policy action becomes urgent.
This project is exploring the retirement income prospects of Generation X and what measures Government can take to support this generation set to retire over the next 10 to 30 years.”

Of course it doesn’t…

The problem is that bring a millionnaire doesn’t mean you have cash in your pocket.
It might be someone who bought a house 30+ years ago for £250k that’s now worth £800k plus a pension o£ ~£150k. Which won’t give you that much to live on

Income and wealth aren't the same thing.

I don't know where your figure comes from, but according to DWP data the median income for a single pensioner in the UK is approximately £17,000-£19,000 per year after housing costs. Given that rent or mortgage payments are a significant chunk of expenditure for most working-age people, those pensioners are actually quite comfortable with £1,500 per month in disposable income. Pensioners also tend not to have dependents.

If however they are old enough to have a final salary pension…. Then yes theyre going to be very well off.
Im not sure how many people still get a final salary pension though

@Everanewbie The £12,500ish a year income is only for pensioners born after certain dates.

If you're a man born before 6 April 1951, or a woman born before 6 April 1953 (i.e. the oldest pensioners), your state pension is currently £184.90 a week, which is £9614.80 a year.