To think we can't afford the triple lock

[paddleboardingmum]

Things seem very weighted against young people right now in terms of tax, student loans, and then there's the cost of mortgages and childcare. I know there are some older people struggling and I do feel sorry for them. But plenty are not and I think we just can't afford the triple lock at the moment. AIBU

Considering the birth rate has dropped significantly, definitely not. Feel sorry for pensioners who don't have private pensions to rely on but its just not going to work.

Here we go. Every time. Tax the billionaires who are trying to influence our politics and leave pensioners the fuck alone.

Whenever I read stuff like this on here (you forgot to mention 'boomers' in your post, btw) I like to draw attention to the seminal and inspiring lyrics by Mike and The Mechanics....

Every generation
Blames the one before

True dat.

We could if we rejoined the EU. Brexit throttled the economy. As predicted.

I'm not blaming them.

We could if we rejoined the EU. Brexit throttled the economy. As predicted.

I would be happy with that solution personally.

Ah the mythical golden goose billionaires.

Why do people take it so personally when the triple lock is brought up?

Ending the triple lock does not mean

1. Your pension will not increase
2. Your pension will reduce

What is would end is the situation where the increase is calculated on a "best of all worlds" basis. Choose a metric, AEI, CPI, or 2.5%, by all means. But triple locks just cannot carry on indefinitely. That income escalator is simply not fair.

And as an aside, the fact that those in receipt of the full basic state pension will now pay income tax is a good thing. This is the fiscal drag suffered by the working population for several years now, It might get the treasury thinking again about frozen thresholds given the insane situation where the threshold is so low, the basic state pension is now in its sights.

We can't. We should still give those who contributed with NI a state pension, but most people should be expected to live of their private pensions and nest egg.

Rather see the benefits bill cut first.

Yes we can afford it. Stop giving billions of pounds in foreign aid each year. Why are we supporting countries like Pakistan? Stop spending millions of pounds on keeping illegal immigrants. We are not a poor country we just have repeated incompetent governments that give our money away to anyone except our own people.

I tend to agree. But with provision for increasing pension credit and including more of those eligible for it. I think relying on individual private pensions and nest eggs is completely unaffordable for most people who don’t earn anywhere near enough. That demands a conversation about low wages. However, I think the state pension should be increased in general. The UK has the lowest in west Europe.

You mean bring logic and common sense into it…???

Pensions are counted as part of the benefit bill. About 55% of the benefit bill is pensions.

I would be happy with that solution. Sadly we have far to many uneducated people who don't understand politics and economics who wouldn't.

State pension takes up 55 percent of the benefits bill, it is a benefit. People aren't paying into their own private pension its paying for the pensioners now. So by your logic you do want state pension cut.

Yes, I’d rather the other 45% was cut.

I’d much rather provide the triple lock than pay for all able bodied working age people who choose not to work either because they’re feral or just lazy .

Thank you you've just completed my Daily Mail benefits bashing bingo for this morning.

Neither would be popular, both would be fair, and create the headroom for some degree of relief from the fiscal drag currently strangling the alarm clock generation.

Just save up privately

I am not young but I do pay taxes, have an expensive student loan and a mortgage. I fail to see how cutting pensions is going to impact any of this. Was the government paying student loans and mortgages before the triple lock was introduced?

Other EU countries are facing similar issues still. Debt in France is very high, Greece and Italy too.

That's every-one then!
Who do you think has paid NI?

Illegal immigrants don’t get government support as they are here illegally they are hardly rocking up to the DWP giving away the fact the are here as they are trying to stay hidden. They are mostly exploited tbh. If you mean asylum seekers, which is a legal status, we need to be processing their asylum claims much faster. If they break the law, sorry back you go rather than spending money on prison and they must get work if they are allowed to stay and not exist on benefits. As they can’t do paid work why are we not getting them out helping the community?

You mean the billionaires who themselves will be pensioners and get the triople lock?

Cut the benefits from those who don’t need it and have contributed nothing first.