State Pension: Britons demand increase to £400 per week for all - 'the state should pay!'

State Pension payments provide important support to older people, many of whom have departed the workforce for later life. For many, the state pension serves as a primary source of income, and individuals will be taking pre-emptive action to ensure they receive the full sum if at all possible. However, some have stated the current levels of support from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) do not extend far enough.

“Millions of elderly people in Britain today are living in poverty.

“They are having to choose between eating, and heating their homes because the UK’s state pension is so low at around £7,000 a year.

“This is unacceptable in 21st century Britain.”

The full rate of the new state pension is currently £179.60 per week, which works out as around £9,339 per year.

Under the older scheme, the full rate is £137.60 per week, which means an annual payment of £7,155.

However, of course, the amount a person actually receives from the state pension can vary.

This is due to the fact the sum is based on a person’s National Insurance contributions throughout their lifetime.

For the new state pension, it is usually the case that 10 qualifying years are needed to get any pension at all.

Indeed, 35 years of NI contributions will be the key to unlocking the full state pension sum.

The petition has only recently been started, and has so far garnered a total of 189 signatures, but will run until November 2021.

This means it has a significantly long way to go before reaching the all-important 10,000 signature trigger.

It is at this point the Government will be required to formally respond to the petition, an action it usually takes on the petition’s webpage.

If the petition were to reach 100,000 signatures, then it would be considered for debate in Parliament. 

Of course, it is worth noting there are mechanisms in place to safeguard the state pension sum.

Primarily, the Triple Lock Mechanism is seen as the best way of ensuring the state pension rises annually.

The Government commitment vows to increase the basic and new state pension by the highest of earnings, prices or 2.5 percent.

This tax year, the Government confirmed the state pension would rise by 2.5 percent.