I’m in my 70s and deserve the extra £500 in my pension

The recent news that pensioners are likely to get a rise of more than £500 a year in the state pension has been greeted with the usual howls of protest from some disgruntled young people.

Indeed, many a time I have yelled at my radio in response to people calling into talk shows when the topic of financial support for seniors comes up. 

Typical complaints include, ‘they’ve had all their lives to save,’ ‘they’re rattling around in million-pound mansions while young families struggle to find homes,’ and ‘they all lucked out on the property market’.

True, some members of my generation – I’m in my late 70s – were lucky enough to have bought property that went up in value many times. But we worked hard to afford those homes.

We went without things and made sacrifices to meet our mortgage repayments – including the double-digit interest rates that my husband and I, like many others, paid in the 1980s and early 1990s – that today’s mortgage-payers have never endured. 

We worked hard to own our own home, and such ‘assets’ are often needed to pass on to children or to pay for care.

The rise (of 4.7%) is as a result of the ‘triple lock’ policy, which sees the state pension rise by either 2.5%, the rate of inflation, or average wage growth – whichever is the highest. 

But this rise is not a luxury, it is essential. The image of OAPs as using this money to simply top up their spending money on a SAGA cruise is wrong. 

Older people may have undergone many experiences that can rob them of the retirement they expected, or upend their financial planning.

This is especially true for women. When I became a mother in the late 70s, it was common for women to stop work to prioritise childcare, leaving many of us with gaps in our pension contributions or on lower earnings than we would have had if we had continued in our jobs or careers, as is more typically the case with mothers today.

I have worked all my adult life from the age of 18 until my late 60s, stopping only when I had caring responsibilities.

I was a nursery nurse and it was not a well-paid profession, but I consider it a very valuable one – giving children a safe and happy start to their education, and giving their parents peace of mind.

I have never been extravagant. I was lucky to have holidays in Europe, many of which were spent camping. We rarely ate out. 

I have always been happy to buy some of my clothes in charity shops.

Today, I live on the state pension, plus a small inherited private one. Ironically, the latter pushed me slightly over the threshold for pension credit for some years, meaning that I actually lost out on some benefits that I would have had without it.

I feel like I have worked hard and done the right thing all my life, and it doesn’t seem too much to ask that I enjoy a small measure of financial security in my retirement.

The price rises of recent years have hit pensioners hard, and it’s tough to meet all the bills on a pension that is not generous by European standards.

My utilities, for example, are over £200 a month. I pay about £60 a month for water and £50 a month for my phone and internet. Electricity averages out at over £100 a month.

Food bills vary, but probably come to another £200 a month. Simple pleasures, like coffee and cake out with a friend, would not leave me with much change from a £10 note, meaning that this now has to be a rare treat.

Of course, it’s true that we don’t face some of the costs that younger people face. We’re not raising young children – although some of the grandparents among us are still helping to care for them – and many of us have paid off our mortgages.

We get free bus travel and sometimes train travel. Theatre, cinema and other discounts also help us enjoy our later years.

But even this modest support can’t be guaranteed. For example, in 2020, limits were placed on those over 75 who received a free TV license.

It might be hard for the younger generation – who derive most of their entertainment from their mobile phones – to understand, but TV can be a lifeline for elderly people who may be housebound or receive few visits from family and friends.

On top of that, other costs pop up that we wouldn’t have had years ago. While a free bus pass is wonderful, some of us have health or mobility issues that mean we might now need to take a taxi instead. 

We also need heat. In the winters of our youth, we might have just put on an extra jumper, stiffened our upper lip, and toughed it out. But many pensioners are frail, so need properly heated homes. The winter fuel allowance helps, but doesn’t cover it all.  

So the way I see it, £500 is not a huge sum. It’s a drop in the ocean against the money splurged elsewhere on huge projects that are cancelled, or tax avoided by large corporations.

But for me and the many people like me, it can help make a well-earned retirement slightly easier – less worry about bills, the occasional treat or outing, or a cab journey home to save my aching legs.

And no young person should begrudge it. After all, they will be old themselves one day.

As told to Debbie Stowe

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing James.Besanvalle@metro.co.uk. 

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