Poverty and Inequality
1944-10 1944 1940s 29 pages 19 This number is only 9.2 per cent. of the 336,280 recipients of Unemployment Assistance in 1938, who had been unemployed for six months or longer in November of that year.* (4) Old Age, Widows' and Orphans' Pensions. (a) Contributory Penions. Contri...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
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London : C. W. Publishing Ltd.
October 1944
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/1A255D90-99B5-433E-9E2C-D6A0255C0E41 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/EB8EBA36-CA00-4DF4-B2C9-C513314133FC |
| Summary: | 1944-10
1944
1940s
29 pages
19 This number is only 9.2 per cent. of the 336,280 recipients of Unemployment Assistance in 1938, who had been unemployed for six months or longer in November of that year.* (4) Old Age, Widows' and Orphans' Pensions. (a) Contributory Penions. Contributory Pensions, covering Old Age, Widows' and Orphans' Pensions on the same stamp as National Health Insurance are compulsory for all persons with an income of less than £420 a year. The weekly rates are as follows :- Type of Pension. Weekly Payment. Old Age 10/- Widows' 10/- Children's Allowances: Eldest child 5/- Other children 3/- Orphans 7/6 They are administered by the Ministry of Health. Contributory Old Age Pensions are paid to men over 65, to their uninsured wives over 60, and to insured women over 60. (b) Non-contributory Old Age Pensions. These are paid by officers of Customs and Excise to all persons over the age of 70, subject to certain qualifications of nationality and residence in this country, and subject to an income limit on the following scale:— Income Limits for Non-Contributory Old Age Pensions. Maximum Unearned Income† Earned Income. Pension Payable Weekly. £39 plus. £26 5s. 0d. maximum 10/- £31 10s. 0d. „ 8/- £36 15s. 0d. „ 6/- £42 0s. 0d. „ 4/- £47 5s. 0d. „ 2/- £49 17s. 0d. „ 1/- Over Nil. The object of penalising earned income is partly to remove old people from the labour market, on the capitalist's assumption that there is always a shortage of jobs. Psychologically it is unfortunate for the old people, who are saved from boredom, loneliness and a sense of uselessness by the odd jobs which they are still capable of undertaking. The income limit involves the hated means test. (c) Supplementary Pensions Nobody, of course, could live on 10/- a week, and until the introduction of Supplementary Pensions, in 1940, pensioners were obliged to apply to Public Assistance, which subjected them to a further humiliating means test, with its taint of pauperism. The investigation is repeated every five, eight or thirteen weeks. * Social Security Ed. by W. Robson, Ch. V., by Joan Clarke, † This includes the estimated yearly value of houses not personally occupied, of investments, and other property not personally used or enjoyed.
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |