Scrapping winter fuel payment is wrong, but REAL SCANDAL is that UK state pension is one of WORST in Europe!! MINIMUM wage is £22k but pension is ONLY HALF THAT at £11.5k! 1m elderly living in poverty! Judge a country by how it treats it's vulnerable! #GMB www.theguardian.com/society/2024... - ThreadSky

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social • 94 days ago

Scrapping winter fuel payment is wrong, but REAL SCANDAL is that UK state pension is one of WORST in Europe!! MINIMUM wage is £22k but pension is ONLY HALF THAT at £11.5k! 1m elderly living in poverty! Judge a country by how it treats it's vulnerable!
#GMB
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/16/nearly-1m-uk-pensioners-deprivation-official-figures

Comments

vivianpaul.bsky.social•93 days ago

That’s one of the reasons that Bumbling Boris wanted us out of Europe,because I’m sure there was talk years ago about us having the same pension payment as Europeans do

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•93 days ago

Hmmm interesting 🤔

thornyhedges.bsky.social•78 days ago

I wish thay minimum wage was £22k!

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•78 days ago

untypicalboro.bsky.social•93 days ago

📌

winny3001.bsky.social•87 days ago

I agree with your point about the frankly scandalous state pension rates. However, I think it should be noted that the winter fuel payment isn’t being scrapped. It will be means tested like every other state benefit. Those that need it will still get it.

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•87 days ago

I get what you are saying, but there will be 1000s who need it who won't get it, due to threshold for pension credits being only £11.5k. That's really not enough to live on. Threshold should be much higher.

republicif.bsky.social•57 days ago

The Tories make it their mission to brainwash the public that taxes are bad. Tax cuts only really benefit the rich & public services suffer as a consequence. If you want a decent pension, an NHS that works, or even the roads repaired, we have to pay for it through a fair progressive tax system.

claudem1cel.bsky.social•48 days ago

It just needs Managing properly rather than wasting on Wars

republicif.bsky.social•48 days ago

I agree in principle. Our tax system needs an overhaul, but you work with what you have got. It's a simple premise. Cut tax, then public services, health & pensions will suffer. As for the other point, if we didn't have despotic nations invading it's neighbours the planet would be a safer place

claudem1cel.bsky.social•48 days ago

The biggest Cock up was leaving EU

republicif.bsky.social•48 days ago

Definitely 👍

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•48 days ago

👌

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•57 days ago

Well said 👏

atthetippingpoint.bsky.social•5 days ago

As a 40yr resident of the US who's about to become ensnared in the UK tax system l'm shocked the base tax is £12,500, in the US it's $23,000.
lt's disgusting!

deafdude.bsky.social•80 days ago

Add Australia to the list!!

catpawsc.bsky.social•94 days ago

I don't even get that. In my working life I had a 5 year gap with children. That's enough to slash my pension. I don't trust them not to dismiss 50s women's claim for compensation either. I had 13 months notice, not 6 like they said I did. The rest of Europe had decades notice.

anniesten.bsky.social•93 days ago

I’m in a similar position. I took time out to have children then worked part time. I don’t get anywhere near a full pension

catpawsc.bsky.social•93 days ago

It's ridiculous that we couldn't contribute to our pensions whilst raising the next generation.

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•94 days ago

Disgraceful 😠 x

mimisnana.bsky.social•12 days ago

I volunteer at a local pantry where people can shop for cheaper groceries. It's not a food bank but it helps. This week the charity paid 45% more to buy the same list of goods from a supermarket. The stores are ripping us off too.

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•12 days ago

That's shocking!! Is that increase compared to last year?

mimisnana.bsky.social•12 days ago

Last month!

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•12 days ago

Jesus! Are.u allowed to name supermarket? I find a lot of price fixing going on - even between the likes of Sainsys and Lidl/Aldi. Even though.people think Sainsys is always more.

mimisnana.bsky.social•12 days ago

I think they're all at it tbh. I wouldn't break a confidence by naming them though.

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•12 days ago

Yes, all as bad as each other.

lloydandstar.bsky.social•78 days ago

And tax threshold at £12,500 so if you do have a little top up private pension they tax it 😡.

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•78 days ago

Yes! It's shockingly bad. But in all the furore about Winter fuel It's rarely talked about. Why are 1000s of pensioners only £300 from death by hypothermia?

addicted2strava.bsky.social•84 days ago

Same with Carers Allowance.
£81.90 per week for 35 hours of work. (£2.34 per hour)
Often, it is actually 168 hours, but let's not quibble.
Surely it should be 35 x £12.21 = £427.35 from April

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•84 days ago

Yes, disgraceful 😡

addicted2strava.bsky.social•84 days ago

I would argue that as the DWP accept that at least 35 hours of work is being carried out, for which they then pay a wage, it should be liable, as a de facto employer to pay the going rate.
Just a thought.

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•84 days ago

Yes, agree.

addicted2strava.bsky.social•84 days ago

I'm hoping it is on the Government’s radar. I imagine there is £billions being spent on care packages that wouldn't be needed if loved ones felt financially able to stop employment to care for their relatives themselves. #carers

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•84 days ago

Yes, good point. It would make sense.

ian-nick.bsky.social•57 days ago

The problem is Uk taxation and NI are too low to pay an acceptable state pension. That said public sector workers have always had an occupational pension which gives a decent pension that was offset by lower comprable pay during their working life.

ian-nick.bsky.social•57 days ago

You may find very poor pensioners may have not worked at all, or they made poor choice on paying into a pension fund and failing to understand taxation.

rolandhoskins1.bsky.social•94 days ago

The Government’s decision to cut winter fuel payments is a death warrant for many.
This is not an exaggeration.
Eh! Rachael Reeves and Keir Starmer.

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•93 days ago

Yes, but you have to ask yourself why many of our pensioners are a couple of hundred pounds from death in 1st place? Because they are expected to survive on peanuts.

fascinatorfun.bsky.social•48 days ago

It isn’t even £11.5k pa for most pensioners. That’s the new state pension for those who became pensioners after 2016.

Their full state pension is £8,800 PA.

And plenty don’t get the full state pension

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•48 days ago

It's a national disgrace 😡

carolynfahm.bsky.social•48 days ago

A warm home in winter is now a luxury item.

allangpaterson.bsky.social•93 days ago

From a thread by @tfoale.bsky.social quite sometime ago.

nicoledso.bsky.social•93 days ago

Additionally 10% of pensioners live in poverty (which is too much of course) but 1/3 of children! We’ve quite literally transferred wealth from families to pensioners via the triple lock for 15 years and yet this gets far less attention?!

nicoledso.bsky.social•93 days ago

It’s also nonsense. I hate it when people post stuff like this which just isn’t true!

allangpaterson.bsky.social•93 days ago

What is not true?

nicoledso.bsky.social•93 days ago

It’s not sharing like with like. We have very different pensions and different ways to put into them. We CHOOSE really low taxes and higher private provision. Auto enrolment etc. Netherlands (on your list) isn’t just State pension but a dual system.
https://www.pensioenfederatie.nl/website/the-dutch-pension-system-highlights-and-characteristics

nicoledso.bsky.social•93 days ago

And France, Germany etc pay MUCH MUCH higher taxes. So we have much higher post tax disposable income so need to put into private pensions with that extra money. Or we all have to pay MUCH higher taxes

exilefromgroggs.bsky.social•93 days ago

... but that's also a chart that's only selectively true - certain people pay higher rates of tax and VERY high marginal rates of tax. For example - someone on plan 2 student loan going from £110k-120k will only take home another £3k per year - marginal tax rate about 70%.

allangpaterson.bsky.social•93 days ago

Well, I'm all for comparing the data on a like for like basis, I wonder if anyone has done a more detailed analysis, as, of course, you are right we need to make genuinely proper comparisons and I'm sure @tfoale.bsky.social would agree with that approach.

nicoledso.bsky.social•93 days ago

I’ve seen stuff before on the other place but can’t remember where. I do see this nonsense too often tho and it’s just not true and moreover it’s choices we make electorally to not pay high taxes. We diverged from European style taxes under thatcher. Pay peanuts… (US doesn’t include healthcare)

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•93 days ago

Wow, that is so depressing yet very rarely mentioned in media??

fritzysim62.bsky.social•93 days ago

It would not be mentioned because the Tory supporting media don’t want us to know that their party’s successive governments have not looked after pensioners as much as they’d like us to think 😔

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•93 days ago

Yes, sounds about right ☹️

keirsy.bsky.social•94 days ago

Add to that the cost of our energy bills, solve the energy price and pension problems and there no need for winter fuel allowances

gillmh.bsky.social•57 days ago

Always worth reminding people.

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•57 days ago

Yes, 100% x

lizjeeves.bsky.social•57 days ago

Exactly this!

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•57 days ago

Makes me ragey 😬

lizjeeves.bsky.social•57 days ago

Me too 😤

lullulham.bsky.social•50 days ago

Imagine what could have been done with the money that Tory chancellors wasted on vote buying tax cuts and debt write-offs, the illegal raid of the public purse by VIP's during lockdown, and the shut down in the Asylum Assessment System which created a cash cow for private landlords and hoteliers.

stv1dr.bsky.social•94 days ago

It is a tragedy and successive governments have ignored the massive underspend for decades. France and Spain treat their older citizens with dignity, respect and proper financial support. That her started the rot, of course.

sunderlandlolly.bsky.social•94 days ago

Yes, it's so sad 😞

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