£30,000? THIS IS OVER $50,000 A YEAR – HOW MANY UK PENSIONERS LIVING IN CANADA ARE MAKING THIS?
IF UK PENSIONERS ARE FEELING THE SQUEEZE. IMAGINE HOW UK PENSIONERS LIVING IN CANADA ARE MANAGING – OVER 22,000 ARE GETTING LESS THAN $30 PER WEEK. NOW, THAT IS A SQUEEZE
“Silver Voices” Group in Action
iNews
Daily Mail
The Express
Valerie Hepplestone, 78, who receives a state pension of about £43 per week, has found herself in this scenario. She and her husband Ian live in South Africa.
My husband also has a frozen pension of £66 every week. He suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and heart problems. Simply paying our medical aid contributions costs us £60 every week. We have a tiny retirement annuity that supplements the pension. Inflation in South Africa is really high, only this month power increased by 13% It’s scary to think about the future because food, rates and taxes, and fuel prices are all rising, but our income is staying the same. Even after leaving the UK, we continued to pay National Insurance contributions in the belief that our pension would be secure. We had no idea it was going to be frozen.”
..the proposed 3.1 per cent increase represents a cut in real terms in the state pension – which is already the lowest in the developed world. Removing the triple-lock earnings protection will undoubtedly increase hardship…Can one of the world’s richest countries really justify cutting state pensions as inflation takes off? Pensioner poverty was rising even before the pandemic struck, with two million living below the poverty line and one million – predominantly women – in fuel poverty. Too many pensioners feel they have to choose between heating and eating, but as fuel and food prices rocket, some may not be able to afford enough of either.
– Baroness Altmann – Minister of State for Pensions – May 2015 – July 2016
Baroness Ros Altmann
1
‘300 MPs voted to put more pensioners into poverty. Telling people in their nineties who can’t afford their heating that it’s just for one year doesn’t help’ – Baroness Ros Altmann
Pensioner poverty, when measured against median disposable income, has risen from 13% to 18%” – Baroness Drake
…reference is made to what is seen as recent generosity to pensioners by way of pension payments. What gets overlooked is that older pensioners contributed a lot throughout their working lives….These pensioners faced and overcame many challenges. I am talking not about the war but about growing up in an era when being poor meant that you went without….I agree with others that we need to make sure that our pensions and benefits system keeps pace with the changing world, which should include reviewing pensions policy” – Baroness Stowell of Beeston
The Minister and the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell, suggested that the Bill is about fairness, but I suggest that there is something rather more insidious here…However, for those people who will lose the uplift for this one year….this does not feel fair. It feels incredibly painful….My real concern is this: how can anybody be sure that this so-called one-off proposal is one-off? ” – Baroness Smith of Newnham
This is the fourth time since 2014 that legislation for uprating of pensions is being changed, yet this time there is no impact assessment or explanation of the impact on pensioner poverty……The UK state pension is hardly a king’s ransom. It is the lowest in the OECD……. Millions of pensioners have no or very little income other than the state pension…..The triple lock was a political construct that did not properly protect the poorest pensioners……I argue that we are setting a very dangerous precedent if we fail to recognise the importance of protecting the poorest pensioners against falling behind the rest of society in earnings…..Average earnings are £540 per week. The basic state pension, is now £137.60 per week” – Baroness Altmann
The Treasury estimate is that the Government will save £5 billion next year by this change.” – Lord Hendy
…it seems that there is a competition among Ministers to find novel ways of hurting the most vulnerable people in our society….. the Government are clearly gunning for senior citizens……The next instalment of the triple blow for seniors is to suspend the triple lock. I cannot support this cruel Bill…..The full state pension at the moment is £9,350, but only four out of 10 retirees receive it….The actual average state pension, as Age UK has just reminded us, is £8,000 a year or roughly 25% of average earnings. This is the lowest among industrialised nations, with the average being around 60% in OECD countries…. the proportion of elderly people living in severe poverty in the UK is five times what it was in 1986. This is the largest increase among major western European countries…..The low state pension condemns millions to a life of poverty, insecurity and early death. According to Age UK, despite the triple lock, 2.1 million pensioners—18%—in the UK live in poverty…….Can she [the Minister] please explain why the £37 billion surplus on the National Insurance Fund account is not being used to pay even £8 billion or £10 billion in extra pensions?” – Lord Sikka
This is a pretty challenging question, and I do not know.” – Baroness Stedman-Scott
An exchange between Lord Sikka and Baroness Stedman-Scott
Meanwhile, there are nearly 85,000 UK Pensioners in receipt of a UK State Pension that is frozen at the level first received (17% of all UK pensioners in receipt of a Frozen State Pension) receiving LESS THAN £20 PER WEEK (28% Men, 72% Women). The average amount received by this cohort is JUST £11 PER WEEK (£9.05 for men, £11.70 for women). This is PENSIONER POVERTY.
ALL PRETTY DAMNING STATISTICS…WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT GOING TO DO TO FIX THIS?
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20th October 2021
More than 10 million state pensioners will receive a pay rise of 3.1% from April 2022, in line with the inflation rate – which could represent a boost of up to £288.60 for the year.”
NEARLY HALF A MILLION STATE PENSIONERS WILL, AGAIN, GET NOTHING. HOW CAN THIS BE RIGHT, OR FAIR?
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