It's now being suggested that pensioners should 'work for their pension'

[bananaistheanswer]

here by working in the community, or face losing part of their pension. So, now pensioners are being tarred with the same brush as 'benefit claimants'.

They already have worked for their pension. All of their lives, in some cases.

Well it's only been floated as a discussion point by a former civil servant - albeit a high-up one. It's not like it's actually going to be in any party's manifesto.

I'm so flabbergasted by it I'm incapable of forming a coherent response at present

I am sure many pensioners already do lots of voluntary work - but the clue is in the title, it is voluntary.

It's not like it's actually going to be in any party's manifesto.

Certainly not one they'd rely on to get elected, but once in power? I wouldn't be so certain...

This was being discussed on the radio earlier. They actually had a caller who thought it was a great idea. Apparently "they have it too easy anyway" and "why should they get all the handouts, free bus passes etc whilst the rest of us are struggling" She was actually being serious too!

Couldn't believe what I was hearing, perhaps I should let my pension age, full time worker mum know that her life is awesome and she should stop freeloading. She's worked since she was 13 but hey she gets a free bus pass!

Former head of the Benefits Agency? Figures :(

So you can work and pay in to a state pension all your life, but not get it unless you do voluntary work?

What about people with private pensions? I thought we were encouraged to pay into a pension fund so that you could reap the benefit when you retire. Seems to work in the private sector

Maybe the people running the state pension should look at that model and create a pension fund rather than just using our NI contributions to pay current pensioners

It's getting to the point where I hope I will die young.

Since retiring I work for a charity. When we have our volunteers' meetings I look round and see that of around 50 people in the room only three or four are under retirement age. It is the retired volunteers who keep a lot of charities going. Lord Bichard should get out more...

If they try to put that through, can I be the first to suggest we all take to the streets?

Whatever twat said that needs a good shaking.

This govt is just pulling crazy ideas out of thin air...Are they truly off their minds? Clearly...

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9628554/Older-generation-takers-not-contributors-to-public-purse.html

Another article on it. Extract: At a hearing in the House of Lords, experts from a London University and the Bank of England said that politicians will have made ?winners? of older people and ?losers? of younger people. They said a combination of high house prices, rising government debt, unemployment and more expensive education mean young people are getting a raw deal compared with their parents and grand-parents.

Yes, we all know about debt, expensive education, high house prices etc. but I would be more inclined to be sympathetic to the hard done by young people if experts took into account that when older people like myself were small there was no NHS to look after you until 1948, young men had to give at least two years' of their lives to national service, loads of jobs were barred to women/paid less for doing the same job, university places were confined to only 10% of the population (many would have welcomed the chance of paying for tertiary education), women like myself worked full time with a family without the cushion of maternity leave or pay etc.

They could also look round and see how many older people provide free childcare for their grandchildren at a time when they could be enjoying their last years of good health, helping their adult children to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds (to buy property, for example). Not to mention the thousands upon thousands of us who never claim free bus passes and give our heating allowance to charities etc.

I could go on, but it is turning into a rant and I'm afraid on reading the DT story the old red mist came down

As OAP's DH and I are caring for 5 people

1. DS 32 Downs, deaf, epilepsy 2)DD 28 Downs heart defect pacemaker 3)DD 24 Downs heart defect
2. DS 14 deaf/blind,cp epilepsy tube fed 5)DD 7 emanuel syndrome tube fed, colostomy, immune problems spare time voluntary work on 5 hrs sleep a night. perhaps who ever thought of this bright idea would do some caring whilst DH and I do some helping. grimbletarts comments I fully endorse needless to say!!!

I'm no pensioner and I do think young people these days have it very very hard. DH and I were lucky - we bought our house at the right time before things went completely stupid and now own it outright. However, he and I may never be able to retire.

But I still think that this is a completely idiotic idea which deserves to be shoved to the back of a very dark closet as soon as possible.

Best make sure Lord Bichard doesn't watch Logan's Run and get any more bright ideas...

RetireI wish sometimes I could Ilove them so much but silly ideas make me cross.
Just another 2hrs 30mins to bedtime and then up at 5.45. Many of my decrepid friends are in the same boat.

Who's surprised around here? Honestly, I'm not.
So far they've screwed over people with disabilities and their carers, self employed and lone parents, of course oaps are next!

This is the government whose contracted agent ATOS found someone on life support fit to work!

The only people they won't come for are those who don't rely on the state for ANYTHING. People with huge private wealth.

The suggestion that retired people should care for "very old" people is a bit odd

Are these very old people, who need to be cared for, going to be financially penalised for not volunteering? How old or ill does a retired person have to be before they get to keep all their pension without having to do 'voluntary' work?

I'm not a pensioner, but I do know plenty of pensioners who do voluntary work - whether that's childcare for family, volunteering for a charity, running community coffee mornings, or whatever. I also know pensioners with part-time paid jobs. IME, it's common for fit and healthy pensioners to make a 'contribution' to society.

Are they trying to get voted out? I thought the point was to stay in power?

[hhmm]

Well I'm mortgaged til I'm 68 so same feckin thing really..just hope I fon't drop dead before I've finished working to pay for our flat...

Quite besides the fact of course people are going to have to work til 67 before they even qualify for a pension anyway...

My Great gran was a home help for years after she retired. She certainly wasnt paid for it.

My Gran minds my cousins so their parents can work. Even though she suffers from crippling arthritis.

My Grandad was a farmer. Retire wasnt in his vocabulary.

You wonder what planet these civil servants live on. Many, many pensioners are effectively caring for spouses with long term health problems. Others are caring for grandchildren so their sons/daughters can work.

Fortunately the Tories are so desperate for pensioner votes there is no way this would ever become policy.

It's about as likely to happen as Shergar becoming the next PM.

Certainly not by the Tories. If you look at their policies, pensioners are practically untouched despite the fact that pensions make up the vast majority of the welfare budget.

It's basically because:

a) Pensioners are generally more likely to vote for the Tories
b) Pensioners are much more likely to have time to protest to their MP's.

Future pensions do need to be reformed but so do what we currently give out. I can't see how we can be serious about cutting spending when one of our largest expenditures is untouchable for political reasons.