Pension Credit - is it fair?

MattMattMattUK

Linton said:

Perhaps if we compared the OPs take home pay with that of a pensioner on PC one could better judge whether current arrangements are fair.

I cannot see how that is in any way a meaningful comparison. I agree with the OP that the current system is broken, the cliff edge created by Pension Credit, a penny below the threshold and one gets topped up to the threshold as well as thousands of a pounds a year in other benefits on top (both cash and non-cash benefits), a penny over the threshold and those benefits are not given. It works out that if someone is £10 below the threshold they end up around £3,000 a year better off than someone £10 over the threshold because of that cliff edge. 

I can also see the point the OP was trying to make that those that have "paid in" get out the same, or less than those who never paid in, but the reality is that most people never pay enough tax to make a net contribution in any one year, let alone over a lifetime, it requires a lifetime adult average income (from 18 until death) of £38k in 2018 pounds. Most people arrive at pension age nowhere near that average and it drops off dramatically once they retire. 

Personally I think everyone should pay more tax and unusually when compared to the majority of the population I think that everyone should include me, I understand that for a better future we all need to contribute more, not just someone else, not just people who earn more than me, but everyone, including me. Yes that means that pensioners who never have to pay those higher rates of tax would likely benefit, but that would be a small cost overall when compared to the gains for society.