The British State Pension is far too low, we all know that. It needs to increase and be put back to anyone aged 60.
If the Government put pensions up to £380 a week, it should lift thousands out of deprivation and give our senior folk more spending power and help boost the economy. However, parliament said that lowering the pension age back to 60 years old was neither affordable nor fair to taxpayers and forthcoming generations.
As far as our Government are concerned, on average, people are living longer and they will raise the pension age in line with that life expectancy. However, not everyone lives as long as other people, this is just an expectancy, not a guarantee.
All these people worked and paid their National Insurance, yet are now having their pension delayed.
These people put their hard-earned money into a pension reserve, which I might add incurs interest – not your interest, but the government’s. What! You didn’t think it went under the floorboards of No 10, did you? No, it went into some kind of financial appropriation that incurred their interest, not you! But nobody does something for nothing.
In other words, our Government are fleecing (defrauding) you of your hard-earned money. Think about it! How many people paid their National Insurance but died before they even had an opportunity to appreciate it? Now add all that money up and see how much went into the coffers of the Government and MPs’ pockets.
Where was the media coverage for all of this? There was barely any media coverage, it was like a media blackout.
The UK State Pension is one of the lowest in the developed world and the Government needs to seriously consider how it would support those who rely upon it, especially those on Universal Credit!
They pay out millions to those on Universal Credit, which they will now carry on paying until they reach pension age. Wouldn’t it just make more sense to allow them to have their pension at 60, instead of forking out taxpayers’ money? Wouldn’t it make more sense?
And wouldn’t it make more sense to pay them more pension because numerous people end up having to claim Pension Credit, which is paid by the DWP? And it also means that people on Pension Credit get other things for free, which people on standard pensions don’t get, and are trying to survive on State Pension alone.
And what is a healthy life expectancy? We all know that as we reach a certain age our bodies don’t work as well as when we were younger. Things start to go awry with our bodies. It’s okay for people in Government, they have the best of the best where health care is concerned, although that doesn’t mean they won’t die before this healthy life expectancy. We are all human and we die, and what is a healthy life expectancy for some, certainly isn’t for others.
Poverty and inequality among pensioners are rising and existing financial aid doesn’t go far enough as the cost of living increases further, and our Government need to explore alternative ways to finance the pension scheme, and they need to look at methods other countries use to develop a more effective funding mechanism.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 