Currently, a total of 18.5% of pensioners in the UK aged 75+ have incomes below the poverty line. The main reason for this is the UK’s low level of state pension.
Business for Scotland have several articles about pensions which are worth a read.
Author: Alan Logue
UK pensions among the worst in the developed world, study finds
British workers can expect among the worst pensions in the developed world, according to a report from investment bank UBS, which compared the retirement outlook for a 50-year-old woman in major cities across the globe.
Pensions compared
How much a state plus “mandatory” pension will be worth at retirement as a proportion of current income, based on a 50-year-old female in each city
Singapore 73%
Sydney 72%
Paris 69%
Milan 67%
New York 55%
Tokyo 55%
Munich 50%
Zurich 48%
Toronto 42%
London 41%
Hong Kong 41%
Taipei 32%
Sydney 72%
Paris 69%
Milan 67%
New York 55%
Tokyo 55%
Munich 50%
Zurich 48%
Toronto 42%
London 41%
Hong Kong 41%
Taipei 32%
Couldn’t make it up ?
Recently Jeremy Corbyn, on one of his occasional visits to “North Britain” – a.k.a. Scotland – is reported to have said that it would be difficult for Scotland to have its own distinctive legal system, separate from that in England. Would someone please take him on one side and gently whisper in his ear that Scotland has had its own distinctive legal system for centuries.
We really WAS robbed – now it’s official !
Large quantities of North Sea oil are processed on the rigs and exported directly to other countries without coming ashore. Prior to December 2016 oil that was shipped directly from the rigs was counted towards the Oil Companies’ Head Offices, rather than being counted as produced in Scotland. Oil imported or exported into or out of the UK was normally associated with the region of the UK where it was produced, but oil exported directly from the rigs was associated with a business, not the country of origin. It was allocated to an “unknown region” and credited to the region where the business’s Head Office was registered (usually not Scotland).
The system has now been updated so that, since 2016, in UK records the value of oil extracted from Scottish waters has been credited to Scotland instead of to an “unknown region”.
This change has resulted in Scotland’s allocation for 2015 rising from £588 million to £6,825 million and the allocation to the “unknown region” falling from £8,826 million to £1,529 million.
(Information taken from a report on the Wings over Scotland website.)
Treasury saves £5 billion a year as pension reforms leave more than one million women worse off
The government must reconsider punishing changes to women’s pensions after it emerged earlier reforms boosted state coffers by more than £5 billion a year, campaigners say.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found more than one million women are worse-off by an average of £32 a week after the retirement age moved from 60 to 63.
The change, which happened between 2010 and 2016, has taken 1.1 million women off the pensions book, saving the UK Government £4.2bn on the state support and related benefits.