Tag Archives: pensioner benefits

The Uprating Asymmetry: a case for consistent protection

By Dominic Rider | Mon 12th January 2026 - 2:37 pm

Last week, I opined in these pages that intergenerational fairness should be a liberal priority. A commenter rightly challenged my suggestion that pensions be linked to CPI: poverty is measured relative to median earnings, not inflation. CPI-linking would let pensioners fall below the poverty line even as their purchasing power held steady — precisely what happened after 1980.

The correction clarified my thinking. If relative poverty matters — and it does — then benefits should track earnings, not just prices. The triple lock gets this right for pensioners. We should extend the same logic to everyone else.

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I should acknowledge I muddled two concepts worth distinguishing. Destitution is absolute — the inability to afford essentials like heating, food, and shelter. Poverty, as officially measured, is relative — household income below 60% of the median. A person whose basic bills are covered is not destitute. But fall below that threshold and you are, by definition, poor: unable to afford what society considers normal.

That exclusion is real. It shows up as hesitation over a grandchild’s birthday present, or quiet withdrawal from social life. The triple lock exists because we decided pensioners should not face exclusion.

The mechanism embodies a sound principle: benefits should keep pace with living standards, not merely with prices. The earnings link achieves this. The CPI floor provides protection against inflation shocks. These two elements — earnings-tracking with inflation protection — form defensible policy.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged welfare benefits | 6 Comments

Opinion: The future of pensioner benefits

By David Warren | Tue 23rd June 2015 - 11:14 am

Our pensioners quite rightly enjoy a number of benefits and it was of course a Liberal government that introduced the old age pension over a century ago.

As part of the coalition it was a Lib Dem minister, Steve Webb, who steered through the legislation ensuring the triple lock and the introduction of auto enrolment for those workers without an occupational pension.

Great reforms, but with an ageing population there has been an increased focus on whether we can justify or indeed afford the universal payment of benefits such as Winter Fuel Allowance and free tv licences.

There is also need to focus on the issue of free transport concessions.

In my view, the starting point should be that as liberals we are committed to making sure retired people have a good level of support, but we are not about paying money to those who simply don’t need it.