How much are pensions going up by again this year? Can’t they use that?
Dry_Sandwich_860 on
Like many people my age, I’m delighted that we finally have a government that’s making OAPs contribute. They voted for the austerity that has plunged us into decline and chaos, but are the only group that has not had to contribute anything. They get so many bits and pieces of welfare. People like me, who have never turned the heating on and will never own a house, should not have to pay those who are spending decades in retirement at our expense to heat their massive homes.
That said, the system is far too complicated. No one should have to sign up for anything. The DWP has all the information it needs to figure out who should be getting help. There shouldn’t be various pots of money that need to be applied for and processed (which costs money).
ThouShallConform on
Another thread where middle class Redditors can bash pensioners for apparently being the privileged group in our nation.
Having spent my career in the public sector. My experience is the elderly of our country are very often left to struggle in poverty. And age UK shows that 1/6 of them live in poverty. With millions more just above that line.
You are being conned if you think they are a group that can sustain these cuts. Hence why labours own study said it will cause 4000 additional deaths. Because they will be too cold in their homes.
They are a generation who don’t tend to seek help. Especially older men. Add to that the complex nature of benifits systems in this country and again the stats show that a million or more pensioners should be getting pension credit (ontop of those who get it already) but haven’t applied for it.
Likely because they don’t have a support network able to help them.
I always get downvoted when I say this stuff. But the old people living in poverty won’t be on Reddit replying. Someone should be talking about the reality of their lives.
icantbearsed on
780,000 miss out is a misleading headline as it almost suggests by default that people will struggle as a result. A couple of years ago the Govt gave every household in the country a payment towards their energy bills. It was indiscriminate so the poorest and the richest all got it whether they needed it or not. It cost £51 billion and arguably could have easily been halved through means testing. That £51b was just added to the national debt and we will be paying it off for many years (if ever).
780k missing out means that in theory people don’t “need” the £400. The caveat to that is the government should ensure that the pension credit application process is a simple as possible and promoted suitably so those who do need it are supported sufficiently to access it.
prhymeate on
“…because they are not expected to apply for benefits they are entitled to, according to the government’s own analysis.” 🤷
Instabanous on
Good. 780,000 rich people who’s income went up are going to pay for their own heating.
Clbull on
Starmer is going to be remembered as Britain’s worst PM if he keeps going through with austerity cuts like these, and he’s had some fucking stiff competition from the Tories…
Sir-_-Butters22 on
Good, fuck em. They need to stop sucking the system dry and preventing the country from growing.
grapplinggigahertz on
Interesting politics by Labour.
Take the £300 winter fuel allowance away from all pensioners not receiving benefits so saving the government £1.4b.
However that £1.4b saving is based on the government knowing that 880,000 of the poorest pensioners are not claiming the benefits to which they are entitled, and which would make them eligible for the winter fuel allowance.
And doing this when the government knows that the DWP is overwhelmed with new claims for pension credit already taking over two months to process, let alone when the government has added potentially hundreds of thousands of new claimants into the system.
Plus the government knowing that if all those 880,000 of the poorest pensioners did claim the benefits to which they are entitled that it would result in a £4b cost, so wiping out the £1.4b saving.
Undoubtably there was no reason to give the vast majority of pensioners the £300 winter fuel allowance, but for Labour to implement the change as it has done… not very well handled.
martymcflown on
And how many of these pensioners will this truly affect, to the point of not being able to heat their home?
peelyon85 on
Maybe if the pensioners who were struggling would have tried harder at school and got a better job(s) while they were working / saved more then they wouldn’t be struggling.
That’s what they keep telling the younger generations to do right? Get a better job, stop spending money you don’t have. Save more.
They had every opportunity given to them on a platter. If they didn’t seize that opportunity then it’s their fault right?
(Mostly /s but not really).
evolveandprosper on
Speaking as somebody who will no longer receive the Winter Fuel Payment – I didn’t need it and I won’t suffer through not having it. Many of those 780,000 will be people like me – people with reasonably good occupational pensions (and with mortgages paid off) who can afford to pay their fuel bills without major difficulty. Whilst it might have been better to have a more graduated and nuanced approach to withdrawing the allowance, that would have resulted in additional costs and complexity. It is also worth noting that climate change is causing UK winters to become warmer and wetter, reducing the need for extra payments. On average, the UK saw more than 12 snow days each winter in 1971-2000. This dropped to 9.5 snow days each winter by 1991-2020.
Adam-West on
I wonder how many of those 780k have complained in the past about people receiving benefits that don’t really need them
Commentdeletedbymods on
Jeezo the comments in here sound like half of you would like to exterminate OAPs to save this failed economy. It should be means tested, there’s old folk out there that haven’t a pot to piss in and others going on four holidays a year
Accomplished_Task547 on
Its amazing to see a forum so convinced that old people are all loaded millionaires. Theres a lot of old people that still live in council houses , relying on a small state pension, people that have always been working class and not had much. They should definitely get the winter fuel payment. On the flip side, if youre 75 years old and own an expensive house, have holidays and go golfing, then youve clearly put the work in your entire life. Dont be jealous that someone has worked hard to achieve what they have. A lot of these old people who are comfortable have a career starting as a warehouse hand and ending as deputy director of a company because they started at 16 and worked hard for 40 years.
ChangingMyLife849 on
Is that it? All this fuss over less than a million people
mancunian101 on
I don’t have a problem with WFA being means tested, but it’s been communicated so badly by Labour, and considering it’s probably not even going to save 1.4 billion and yet we are still sending 11 billion overseas in aid to fund “green” projects it just comes across as a mean penny pinching policy aimed at a demographic that Labour don’t care about as they generally don’t vote Labour.
The only concern I’d have is those who are over the threshold to claim pension credits but don’t have enough in cash to pay for heating and don’t have assets that they could sell.
If the winter is particularly cold we could see an increase in elderly people being hospitalised, which will place more stress on the NHS and social services.
Jake257 on
The other weak I was having an argument with some Tory toff that my mum knows. She’s was complaining about the cuts and how she will lose money. I explained it’s being means tested so people who don’t need it won’t get it and because she and her husband earn enough they will be affected. I also said it was hypocritical that she’s moaning about a benefit cut for people that don’t need it but then complain about people on benefits on general. She then goes on a rant about benefit scroungers and people on benefits should be working and don’t deserve them. I just ended up blocking her cos she got me so angry. She’s as thick as pig shit.
ForwardTourist6079 on
The Daily Mail is making out that for losing the WFP (equivalent of £5.77 a week) pensioners are going to be found dead in their homes or sitting on the bus all day. Yet the self entitled old bastards spare no thought for working age people on Universal Credit who have to manage on barely £100 a week and don’t get the WFP.
19 Comments
How much are pensions going up by again this year? Can’t they use that?
Like many people my age, I’m delighted that we finally have a government that’s making OAPs contribute. They voted for the austerity that has plunged us into decline and chaos, but are the only group that has not had to contribute anything. They get so many bits and pieces of welfare. People like me, who have never turned the heating on and will never own a house, should not have to pay those who are spending decades in retirement at our expense to heat their massive homes.
That said, the system is far too complicated. No one should have to sign up for anything. The DWP has all the information it needs to figure out who should be getting help. There shouldn’t be various pots of money that need to be applied for and processed (which costs money).
Another thread where middle class Redditors can bash pensioners for apparently being the privileged group in our nation.
Having spent my career in the public sector. My experience is the elderly of our country are very often left to struggle in poverty. And age UK shows that 1/6 of them live in poverty. With millions more just above that line.
You are being conned if you think they are a group that can sustain these cuts. Hence why labours own study said it will cause 4000 additional deaths. Because they will be too cold in their homes.
They are a generation who don’t tend to seek help. Especially older men. Add to that the complex nature of benifits systems in this country and again the stats show that a million or more pensioners should be getting pension credit (ontop of those who get it already) but haven’t applied for it.
Likely because they don’t have a support network able to help them.
I always get downvoted when I say this stuff. But the old people living in poverty won’t be on Reddit replying. Someone should be talking about the reality of their lives.
780,000 miss out is a misleading headline as it almost suggests by default that people will struggle as a result. A couple of years ago the Govt gave every household in the country a payment towards their energy bills. It was indiscriminate so the poorest and the richest all got it whether they needed it or not. It cost £51 billion and arguably could have easily been halved through means testing. That £51b was just added to the national debt and we will be paying it off for many years (if ever).
780k missing out means that in theory people don’t “need” the £400. The caveat to that is the government should ensure that the pension credit application process is a simple as possible and promoted suitably so those who do need it are supported sufficiently to access it.
“…because they are not expected to apply for benefits they are entitled to, according to the government’s own analysis.” 🤷
Good. 780,000 rich people who’s income went up are going to pay for their own heating.
Starmer is going to be remembered as Britain’s worst PM if he keeps going through with austerity cuts like these, and he’s had some fucking stiff competition from the Tories…
Good, fuck em. They need to stop sucking the system dry and preventing the country from growing.
Interesting politics by Labour.
Take the £300 winter fuel allowance away from all pensioners not receiving benefits so saving the government £1.4b.
However that £1.4b saving is based on the government knowing that 880,000 of the poorest pensioners are not claiming the benefits to which they are entitled, and which would make them eligible for the winter fuel allowance.
And doing this when the government knows that the DWP is overwhelmed with new claims for pension credit already taking over two months to process, let alone when the government has added potentially hundreds of thousands of new claimants into the system.
Plus the government knowing that if all those 880,000 of the poorest pensioners did claim the benefits to which they are entitled that it would result in a £4b cost, so wiping out the £1.4b saving.
Undoubtably there was no reason to give the vast majority of pensioners the £300 winter fuel allowance, but for Labour to implement the change as it has done… not very well handled.
And how many of these pensioners will this truly affect, to the point of not being able to heat their home?
Maybe if the pensioners who were struggling would have tried harder at school and got a better job(s) while they were working / saved more then they wouldn’t be struggling.
That’s what they keep telling the younger generations to do right? Get a better job, stop spending money you don’t have. Save more.
They had every opportunity given to them on a platter. If they didn’t seize that opportunity then it’s their fault right?
(Mostly /s but not really).
Speaking as somebody who will no longer receive the Winter Fuel Payment – I didn’t need it and I won’t suffer through not having it. Many of those 780,000 will be people like me – people with reasonably good occupational pensions (and with mortgages paid off) who can afford to pay their fuel bills without major difficulty. Whilst it might have been better to have a more graduated and nuanced approach to withdrawing the allowance, that would have resulted in additional costs and complexity. It is also worth noting that climate change is causing UK winters to become warmer and wetter, reducing the need for extra payments. On average, the UK saw more than 12 snow days each winter in 1971-2000. This dropped to 9.5 snow days each winter by 1991-2020.
I wonder how many of those 780k have complained in the past about people receiving benefits that don’t really need them
Jeezo the comments in here sound like half of you would like to exterminate OAPs to save this failed economy. It should be means tested, there’s old folk out there that haven’t a pot to piss in and others going on four holidays a year
Its amazing to see a forum so convinced that old people are all loaded millionaires. Theres a lot of old people that still live in council houses , relying on a small state pension, people that have always been working class and not had much. They should definitely get the winter fuel payment. On the flip side, if youre 75 years old and own an expensive house, have holidays and go golfing, then youve clearly put the work in your entire life. Dont be jealous that someone has worked hard to achieve what they have. A lot of these old people who are comfortable have a career starting as a warehouse hand and ending as deputy director of a company because they started at 16 and worked hard for 40 years.
Is that it? All this fuss over less than a million people
I don’t have a problem with WFA being means tested, but it’s been communicated so badly by Labour, and considering it’s probably not even going to save 1.4 billion and yet we are still sending 11 billion overseas in aid to fund “green” projects it just comes across as a mean penny pinching policy aimed at a demographic that Labour don’t care about as they generally don’t vote Labour.
The only concern I’d have is those who are over the threshold to claim pension credits but don’t have enough in cash to pay for heating and don’t have assets that they could sell.
If the winter is particularly cold we could see an increase in elderly people being hospitalised, which will place more stress on the NHS and social services.
The other weak I was having an argument with some Tory toff that my mum knows. She’s was complaining about the cuts and how she will lose money. I explained it’s being means tested so people who don’t need it won’t get it and because she and her husband earn enough they will be affected. I also said it was hypocritical that she’s moaning about a benefit cut for people that don’t need it but then complain about people on benefits on general. She then goes on a rant about benefit scroungers and people on benefits should be working and don’t deserve them. I just ended up blocking her cos she got me so angry. She’s as thick as pig shit.
The Daily Mail is making out that for losing the WFP (equivalent of £5.77 a week) pensioners are going to be found dead in their homes or sitting on the bus all day. Yet the self entitled old bastards spare no thought for working age people on Universal Credit who have to manage on barely £100 a week and don’t get the WFP.