But you still have to have paid contributions at some point & the change to 30 years was brought in to help the housewife/husband to stops work to raise the children.

Like I wrote before so many people pick up on one part of the qualifying legislation & not the whole thing

Actually the reason I picked up on it was because it affects me, my retirement pension seems to move further away the closer I get. Most of my working life I expected to retire on my pension at 60 then they moved the goal posts and it was 64 years and 5 months now it looks as if it will be 66 but that could change before I get there. I did take some time out of work to bring up my kids and have spent some time as self employed as well as employed. So if we only pick up on some bits of it, it's because it's as clear as mud most of the time and even the communications they send direct only ever ask for more contributions even though you may already have around 36 years of contributions and only need 30 for the elusive state pension.

I know where you're coming from Trouble, they moved my goal posts too, I'm like that squirrel on Ice Age, never quite reaching it!!!

Actually, I'm quite lucky, coz I've only been deferred by 6 months, so HOPEFULLY, they'll stick to what they told me by letter last year and I'll actually be getting that longed for pension by next March! Unlike poor husband, who can't even "dip in" to his private pension he's been paying hundreds of pounds into, coz he has to be 65 now to do that, and then he won't get any of the rest until he's over 70, but like I told them, he probably won't last that long When you pay in £200 a week NOW like he WAS doing (until I stopped it!!), he'll be getting it handed out in 20 year's time as a pittance every 3 months, just like my mum's private pension she paid so much into,i.e. £20K was a LOT of money back in 1970, a one off payment for her retirement, and when she actually started getting it, they gave her the grand sum of £200 every 3 months!!! Dave's would be about the same Work that one out when she only claimed it for a few years !!!

What bugs me even more is, even though these claimaints are getting this supposed £2220 a month, they also get everything PAID for on top, even their council tax, and yet WE have to pay ours out of our income, so what do they do with all this money then, just spend it on luxuries that the likes of us can't afford anymore because there's nothing left out of our wages after paying all the bills!

Met the resident alcoholic tonight on our walk - he does indeed get £10 a week for his dog. No idea what the exact 'criteria' is or if it's different in England. Makes me bloody mad.

Well H I actually think the £2200 probably includes their council tax but as long as they claim their jobseekers allowance they'll be entitled to a full basic pension when they reach whatever age it is by then.
What really bugs me is they really don't have to worry about whether or not they can afford another child and all the costs that involves cos the rest of us pick up the tab. Whereas if you're working it's all a balancing act, which explains why I have an eight year gap between my two boys.
My private pension which I can take whenever I want now has been severely eroded by the stock market underperforming, I try not to be too disheartened but when it loses over £15,000 in a year it's hard not to. I guess timing is everything and once it picks up again I better grab it quick. Luckily Iain earns enough for it not to be an issue for us but as I paid a fortune in I would quite like some of it back before I turn up my toes.

Sensible advice, good post.

This doesn't happen in Scotland as far as I am aware... he's probably slavering a load of rubbish..

Like Jodee has said, there are so many misconceptions about what benefits people do/don't get, what people are entitled to etc.. Don't believe everything you read in the Sun or the Daily Mail..

ETA: Social security benefits, tax/tax credits and minimum wage are not devolved powers so the Westminister Govt decides these and they are the same in Scotland and England.

Dee

He could well be. But this info has come from so many people that I wonder if it is actually true and not a load of rubbish. It hasn't always come from junkies and alcoholics! Oh, and I don't believe everything I read in the papers either.

That said, they don't deserve a penny of what they get already, let alone anything else extra.

JSA `runs out ` after a certain period and then you`re on Income Support. (just for info)

Is Income Support more money than JSA?

No. it`s less.