Shades of “It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum” this morning, with news of a survey conducted by YouGov, testing out whether Brits would fall in line with German proposals for older people to do more to support poorer pensioners… either by paying more tax or by doing some form of national service.
After all, fair’s fair. How many older people bang on about youngsters being conscripted?
In fact, just below half of the UK public support the creation of a voluntary scheme for new retirees to do a year of social work (47% say so, compared to 26% opposed). There was significantly less support for a mandatory scheme, which garnered the backing of a mere 14%.
Some 36% of the public, meanwhile, are in favour of increasing tax on pension income for those with above-average pension incomes, in order to fund more generous state pension payments for the lowest income pensioners.
Your views?
When that actual “retirement” actually happens, we discover today, is being kicked further and further down the road: whilst the preferred retirement age of many Brits remains 62, they don’t expect to be able to give up work until 67 – a gap that has widened by a full year in the last 12 months alone. Renters and those on lower incomes don’t expect to leave work until 68 on average.
If you have had an invitation to get your Covid booster, do check that you actually qualify before making an appointment: many people are being told to get an appointment then being turned away at the pharmacy.
Elsewhere today: how do you keep an older population engaged, socially connected and healthy? In Japan, the answer is increasingly focused on how to create flexible work for older adults to stay active and purposeful… but on their own terms.
Finally, forget fiddling around with the Triple Lock. Could the State Pension itself be means tested under a future Government?
Hello Henry,
Right, you ‘orrible lot…
I realise this article isn’t your text. However I might be misunderstanding it (old age possibly) because it surely doesn’t look a welcoming prospect for the retired.
Germany is not (as I understand it) a Welfare State.
I’m not sure how many YouGov surveyed (they certainly didn’t ask me) so the percentages of a total figure of say, less than 4000, is only a hint. Let alone which parts of the UK the survey was made. Dorking might give them a different response to Halifax.
Many retirees do voluntary work. Anybody who receives more than the basic tax threshold pays tax on most other income anyway. If a retiree believes they need more income than the basic pension, they are put through a Means Test anyway.
None of the suggestions look attractive nor do the implications for those currently in work.
Kind regards.
Tim Simpson
AAA seems to be another of these Anglo-Centric platforms, Henry?
What’s in it for older people in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales?