Set a Minimum Pension Guarantee (MPG) of at least £200 pw for state pensioners

An MPG of at least £200 per week to be set for all state pensioners, irrespective of gender, marital status or contribution record, to remove anomalies in the pension system, including the growing discrepancy between the old and new state pensions. Any higher pensions should not be affected.

Silver Voices research (from DWP sources) reveals that in September 2020 only 6% of state pensioners received the top rate of the new state pension at £185 per week, 87% received a basic State Pension of £142 or less. The UK provides the worst state pension in the developed world, which is insufficient for life’s essentials, particularly with surging energy and food prices. After a lifetime of tax and national insurance contributions, older people deserve a minimum income of £200 per week without recourse to the benefits system.

The Government spends over £134 billion each year on benefits for pensioners, including over £110 billion on the State Pension. This is likely to increase substantially in 2023/24. This proposal would add significant costs and make the system unsustainable and create additional burdens on the working age population.

Since 2010, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension has risen by over £2,300, in cash terms. That's £720 more than if it had been uprated by prices, and £570 more than if it had been uprated by earnings. The Government remains committed to implementing the Triple Lock in the usual way for the remainder of the Parliament.

This petition raises a comparison between the pre-2016 system, and the new State Pension which was introduced for those reaching State Pension age after 2016. The new State Pension was introduced to provide a simpler, clearer, and sustainable foundation for private saving. The new system was designed to cost no more than the previous system and care has been taken to ensure fairness to both groups. It is not possible to make direct, like for like comparisons between State Pension amounts between the two systems. It is not accurate to say that people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 only received the basic State Pension. People who were not contracted out would also have built up some additional State Pension, or SERPS. Those who were contracted out would have received the benefits of membership of an occupational or personal pension scheme, as well as paying less into the national Insurance system at that time.