Agreed. The triple lock needs to be ditched or at least means tested.
48% of our ENTIRE welfare budget goes on pensions, that is £138 billion per annum, and the lions share is the state pension. It is a larger proportion of spending than Universal Credit, child benefit and disability benefit combined!
Pensions have become ever more costly because of the triple lock. It needs to be reformed. A new government with a massive majority is the right time to do it.
I am all for using the metric to improve the Pension Credit as that is rigorously means tested and is there to help the poorest pensioners. I would like the thresholds increased slightly to cover those right at the bottom who do not currently qualify, but who do live in poverty. Completely agree that now is the time to do it, ideally scrap it entirely for pensioners who are in the 40% bracket (about three quarters of a million pensioners), and let it rise at the same percentage as minimum wage for those outside of pension credit.
Agreed. The triple lock needs to be ditched or at least means tested.
48% of our ENTIRE welfare budget goes on pensions, that is £138 billion per annum, and the lions share is the state pension. It is a larger proportion of spending than Universal Credit, child benefit and disability benefit combined!
Pensions have become ever more costly because of the triple lock. It needs to be reformed. A new government with a massive majority is the right time to do it.
Source: https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/tax-by-tax-spend-by-spend/welfare-spending-pensioner-benefits/
I am all for using the metric to improve the Pension Credit as that is rigorously means tested and is there to help the poorest pensioners. I would like the thresholds increased slightly to cover those right at the bottom who do not currently qualify, but who do live in poverty. Completely agree that now is the time to do it, ideally scrap it entirely for pensioners who are in the 40% bracket (about three quarters of a million pensioners), and let it rise at the same percentage as minimum wage for those outside of pension credit.