Minimum wage vs pension & benefits levels

[chem1st]

But all of those things apply to everyone over 60 - even multi-millionaires. you can't count them as benefit income.

 

Of course you can.

 

If you used that logic child benefit, could not be a form of benefit income, as everyone with a child gets it....

[Ms Macbeth]

Isn't the state pension quite a bit less than £100 pw?

 

ETA: and don't the other benefits that HN mentions depend on you not having any savings?

 

Of course - they're means tested. We're deciding how to blow our nest egg as I write.

[rubydazzler]

That's how pension credit works - if your income is less than £130 a week it's automatically topped up to that level. No pensioner can have an income of under the pension credit level - unless he's chosen not to claim it, which is no grounds for anyone to complain.

There's apparently billions of pounds in unclaimed benefits going begging, so obviously many people don't claim. Either because they prefer to live frugally rather than fill in multifarious forms, or because they aren't aware they could be entitled to anything.

 

I also understand that some people are unfortunate enough to have paid into a private scheme which tips them a few pounds over the limit and thereby debars them from claiming CT or HB, often leaving them worse off than someone who's never paid anything into anything, or indeed, never even worked at all.

 

And the person 'complaining' on this thread isn't a pensioner

[chem1st]

Of course - they're means tested. We're deciding how to blow our nest egg as I write.

 

Buy a few years supply of wine/beer. Anything you can see yourself wanting in a few years, stock up on, to bring your savings down (I think under £6k might be the magic number) and increase your weekly income, at the same time reducing your outgoings. You can then eat out etc. and stimulate the local economy at the wider economy's expense.

[Guest]

Why the hell is minimum wage lower than benefit & pension levels.

 

If somebody on minimum wage can work 40 hours a week for a year and pull £10 000 after tax and NI. How can it be fair that a disabled person or pensioner is entitled to more than this, tax free.

 

Moaning again - cheer up lad and if you live long enough, as we have, you will automatically join this exclusive club - but, it isn't as much fun as you may think.

And, don't you think that any of the pensioners you keep moaning about, have worked for many years for lower wages than the national minimum and paid for your education, healthcare & child allowance too?

 

You just have to take your turn as we did - and guess who I think is going to be a grumpy old man one day?

[HeadingNorth]

There's apparently billions of pounds in unclaimed benefits going begging, so obviously many people don't claim. Either because they prefer to live frugally rather than fill in multifarious forms, or because they aren't aware they could be entitled to anything.

 

 

 

Poor excuses both, since pension credit was nationally advertised for years, and be claimed in one phone call without having to fill in forms at all.

 

Some people do still feel a stigma about claiming benefits, but that's their problem to deal with. The money's theirs if they choose to take it, so if anyone were to claim that pensioners have an income of less than £130 a week, they would be wrong.

[chem1st]

There's apparently billions of pounds in unclaimed benefits going begging, so obviously many people don't claim. Either because they prefer to live frugally rather than fill in multifarious forms, or because they aren't aware they could be entitled to anything.

 

I also understand that some people are unfortunate enough to have paid into a private scheme which tips them a few pounds over the limit and thereby debars them from claiming CT or HB, often leaving them worse off than someone who's never paid anything into anything, or indeed, never even worked at all.

 

And the person 'complaining' on this thread isn't a pensioner

 

I think something like 50% of people who'd be entitled to JSA don't claim!

[Ms Macbeth]

There's apparently billions of pounds in unclaimed benefits going begging, so obviously many people don't claim. Either because they prefer to live frugally rather than fill in multifarious forms, or because they aren't aware they could be entitled to anything.

 

I also understand that some people are unfortunate enough to have paid into a private scheme which tips them a few pounds over the limit and thereby debars them from claiming CT or HB, often leaving them worse off than someone who's never paid anything into anything, or indeed, never even worked at all.

 

And the person 'complaining' on this thread isn't a pensioner

 

I think the pension credit level should be the basic pension, with excesses taken back via income tax. Does away with the administration costs of all the means testing for a start. It also makes having contributed to a very modest company pension, or saved for retirement seem worthwhile. Not all pensioners who aren't entitled to means tested benefits are rolling in it.

[needsleep]

Why the hell is minimum wage lower than benefit & pension levels.

 

If somebody on minimum wage can work 40 hours a week for a year and pull £10 000 after tax and NI. How can it be fair that a disabled person or pensioner is entitled to more than this, tax free.

 

i think a point to consider should be that alot of disabled people and pensioners can not work or get a second job or find a better payed job the benefits they recieve have to support them completly where as someone working will always have the choice to keep going for bigger and better jobs or over time if they choose to do it meaning they have the option to be taking home as much as disabled/pensioners are.

 

that being said isn't the the amount your allowed to earn before tax being increased anyway?

[chem1st]

Moaning again - cheer up lad and if you live long enough, as we have, you will automatically join this exclusive club - but, it isn't as much fun as you may think.

And, don't you think that any of the pensioners you keep moaning about, have worked for many years for lower wages than the national minimum and paid for your education, healthcare & child allowance too?

 

You just have to take your turn as we did - and guess who I think is going to be a grumpy old man one day?

 

I'll have you know I'm already a grumpy get!

 

At the end of a day, I think pensioners deserve a pension, but I disagree with it being more than a person earning NMW. I'd rather NMW rose to end this, rather than pensions be cut.

 

If NMW rose, more people would work and we could probably afford to pay pensioners a litlle bit more than we do now!

 

Many will have worked for less than £nmw in numerical terms, but wages are relative to the price of goods, and appear to be lower today than they have been, even though we can produce things more efficiently.