I know it isn't much, craft, but it amounts to an increase of around 2.5% which is at least something. Many employees have had salaries frozen for several years now and the rate of pay for my line of work has fallen by around 25% over the last 5 years. Yes it's tough for those who get just the minimum state pension but pensioners who pay tax must have another source of income, usually a private pension and are often quite comfortable in my experience with no mortgage or children to support
factor I'm not moaning I just think the increase of £2.70 a week is laughable. I do have a private pension, due to paying a hefty part of my income into a pension scheme for 32 years, unfortunately even with this cushion I do have to dip into my savings (where there's bugger-all interest) to maintain the life-style I require.
Factor, a fall of 25% sounds a lot, depends on how much you were earning.
Bet it was a lot more than my pension, being female and having stayed at home to look after my children before they went to school and working part time to be at home for them when they were at school.
What is unfair, craft, is that those who saved for a private pension are often no better off for having done so, because those that have made little or no provision receive pension credit or whatever it's now called. I'm not sure how we can justify increasing pensions by more than inflation, although i would agree to raising the basic state pension significantly and consolidating things such as winter fuel allowance so they become taxable
We couldn't afford for me to stay at home so I went to work when my daughter was 4 (thank god for grandmas).
My neighbour never worked from getting married, and seems to receive loads of pension top-ups despite never paying into the system. I know her council tax for the year is the same as I pay for a month.