The increase of cost is one way to look at the increase in the state pension, getting to the benefit it should have been is another,

We should remember that this was the period when the WASPI women had to stomach the delay of their state pension age  and we should remember that for many years the state pension was grievously below that of many of our peer nations who have a history.

Overall UK wage growth rose to 4.7 per cent in the three months to July, according to official data that commits the government to an above-inflation increase in the state pension next year.

These are numbers which will be expensive but they are part of a plan committed to by this Government from the outset to provide a bedrock of income which can be supplemented by Pension Credit for the worst off and by at least the pension which will in future arise from workplace pensions. Of course there are many gaps through which people will fall, many will opt out of income , many will not worry about saving and a good few just won’t be able but we have contracted to provide for all through benefits.

I suggest this is our contract for paying more in national insurance and pulling in more in other areas. There is no doubt we will be reminded of this in November’s budget.

The 4.7 per cent annual increase in average total weekly earnings, including bonuses, was up from 4.6 per cent in the previous month, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday. This is 2.2% above the minimum that can be paid in a year, a minimum floor of 2.5%.

This new increase will almost certainly push lower earned earners into taxation which will be both bemoaned and accepted. For those on only benefits after state age, it will mean HMRC taking back money that would otherwise have been paid. So in a peculiar way there is a new class of tax-payer, one rewarded by the nation for a lifetime’s being in Britain, these are the things we as a nation should be proud to afford.

Tuesday’s wage data comes ahead of official figures today ( Wednesday ) that are expected to show inflation held steady at 3.8 per cent in August, far above the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target. Nye Cominetti, economist at the Resolution Foundation think-tank, said that since working-age benefits were likely to be calculated based on the inflation figure,

“the gap in state support for younger and older generations will continue to grow”.

There is good reason to be proud when reading this expectation. Despite all the measures in the last budget to get us to pull in our tummies, we continue to put on financial weight

The pain hit us in April but we took the punch

The persistent strength of wage growth has puzzled rate-setters at the BoE, as it has come against a backdrop of weakness in hiring after businesses were hit by sharp tax and minimum wage increases in April.

Payroll employment fell by a modest 8,000 between July and August.

As with the oncoming increase in the state pension, I see our resilience to sacking workers as a good thing, I see it as a sign of resilience and of a wish to grow, our unemployment rate is also 4.7% , down from the one in ten sung about nearly fifty years ago.

The theme I have in my head is hardiness, hardiness to the troubles we hear so much and determination to pay the elderly more , work longer and work harder. It is very difficult to write this in the FT but it is something that bosses around the culture must share with workers.

Work is the compact on which we make promises on the state pension and it’s critical we don’t lose sight of its value to those retired, those retiring and those to come to retirement.

“Every one should do something worthwhile every day”

Said Kenneth the actuary yesterday. He said it to a table of us at a supper last night. I walked home well fed and thinking about that compact to make our pensions pay. Kenneth I know to be a fine golfer, footballer and a man working hard to make certain pensions work!