New calls for weekly State Pension payments of £416 for every person aged over 60
18.09.2023 - 13:43
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
A new online petition argues that the State Pension is “too low” and should be increased to match the National Minimum Wage. If that sounds like a familiar proposal it’s because another petition, which has received more than 36,700 signatures of support, has made a similar proposal, but was rejected by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) last month.
The DWP response explained on August 21 that the State Pension and National Living Wage have “different purposes” and that a “direct comparison cannot be drawn” between them. But that hasn’t stopped people from continuing to sign the petition or more than a 1,000 showing support for the new petition, created and posted on the petition-parliament website by Michael Thompson.
He also proposes that the State Pension age should be lowered back to 60 and everyone over that age receives the equivalent of 40 hours per week at the National Minimum Wage, some £416.80.
The full New State Pension is currently worth £203.85 each week, or £815.40 every four-week pay period - some £10,600 over the 2023/24 financial year. The full Basic State Pension is worth £156.20 each week, some £624.80 every four-week period and over £8,122 over the coming year.
The 2023/24 National Minimum Wage rate for those aged 23 and over is £10.42 per hour, which works out at £416.80 for a 40-hour working week. This would be an annual salary (before tax and NI deductions) of £21,673.
The ‘Make the State Pension equal to Minimum Wage to all from age 60’ petition states:”The State Pension is far too low. The Government must increase the basic State Pension to £21,673.60 a year (£416.80 per week) and extend this to everyone aged 60 or over. This should lift thousands out of poverty, give our elderly folk
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