Reduce SP age

Triumph13

jamesd wrote: »

The relevant life expectancy is cohort life expectancy at state pension age and there aren't many 65 year old gang members.

Not yet, but with state pension age going up we are going to need to find employment for a lot of people of this age...

Silvertabby

If the only thing stopping people from retiring is the lack of the State pension, then they only need to find a job paying £155(?) per week. 3 days stacking shelves in a supermarket would do it - and would leave the full time jobs for the youngsters.

Acquinas

I worked in DWP pensions years ago and at that point (the 1980s) the pension age for men was 65 and for women was 60, but in both cases there was a "retirement condition", i.e. you had to have given up all paid work before you could draw the SP. That was abolished at some point, but if the point of this hare-brained scheme was to free up jobs for the youngsters, then surely it would mean compulsory retirement (i.e. poverty) for the over 55s. Might work in China or in the old East Germany, but I can't see it having many takers in the UK today. I'm 55 and still working: not because I love working (though I have the odd good day) but because I have a mortgage to pay and children to put through university. This would take us back to the days of impoverished pensioners freezing to death because they were terrified of turning on the electric fire. No thanks.

Pollycat

Acquinas wrote: »

I worked in DWP pensions years ago and at that point (the 1980s) the pension age for men was 65 and for women was 60, but in both cases there was a "retirement condition", i.e. you had to have given up all paid work before you could draw the SP. That was abolished at some point, but if the point of this hare-brained scheme was to free up jobs for the youngsters, then surely it would mean compulsory retirement (i.e. poverty) for the over 55s. Might work in China or in the old East Germany, but I can't see it having many takers in the UK today. I'm 55 and still working: not because I love working (though I have the odd good day) but because I have a mortgage to pay and children to put through university. This would take us back to the days of impoverished pensioners freezing to death because they were terrified of turning on the electric fire. No thanks.

This is a new one on me.
Can anyone else confirm please.

hugheskevi

This is a new one on me.
Can anyone else confirm please.

See page 31 of this link - https://www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn105.pdf

From 1948 to 1 October 1989, if an individual wanted to claim their state pension within the first five years after reaching SPA, they had to have retired from regular employment. An individual working more than 12 hours per week was not deemed to have retired – in other words, they were not paid any state pension income. If an individual did count as having retired (i.e. was working for no more than 12 hours a week) but had earnings above a certain limit (known as the earnings limit), then their BSP (including any increases for dependants) was reduced.

Silvertabby

“ This is a new one on me.
Can anyone else confirm please.
”
See page 31 of this link - https://www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn105.pdf

“ From 1948 to 1 October 1989, if an individual wanted to claim their state pension within the first five years after reaching SPA, they had to have retired from regular employment. An individual working more than 12 hours per week was not deemed to have retired – in other words, they were not paid any state pension income. If an individual did count as having retired (i.e. was working for no more than 12 hours a week) but had earnings above a certain limit (known as the earnings limit), then their BSP (including any increases for dependants) was reduced. Posted by hugheskevi

Gosh, you learn something new every day - can you imagine the moans if this still applied !

hugheskevi

Gosh, you learn something new every day - can you imagine the moans if this still applied !

The modern-day version is the Pension Credit earnings disregard (£5-£20). This is a serious work disincentive for those on Pension Credit. Over time single-tier will change that though (but HB and CTB will still apply).

Acquinas

Yup. Those heady days working for "the Nash" back in the 80s are a bit of a haze now. Thanks to hugheskevi for confirming I hadn't dreamt it all.

Those who didn't want to retire had the option to defer the SP for up to 5 years and earn "increments" to compensate them. We had a steam-powered PC in the corner of the office running Lotus 1-2-3 that did the calculation for us. Happy days!

Thrugelmir

Silvertabby wrote: »

If the only thing stopping people from retiring is the lack of the State pension,

More likely is the lack of a decent paying job prior to retirement. Low wage economy offers little opportunity if you have no longer required skills.

Silvertabby

If the only thing stopping people from retiring is the lack of the State pension,
Originally posted by Silvertabby ” More likely is the lack of a decent paying job prior to retirement. Low wage economy offers little opportunity if you have no longer required skills. Posted by Thrugelmir

I was thinking more of the WASPE women who are adamant that they would have retired at 60 but for the change in their State pension ages.