The most needy get the allowance, from what I've read. Those living near the boundaries of any benefit entitlement are always going to feel the pinch, the most, as do those who earn just enough to attract the higher tax rate. That is life, in any political arena.
Well yes, in a narrow sense, that's true, in that the winter fuel payment will now be limited to people over state pension age who are receiving pension credit or a limited number of other benefits. The changes mean that only 1.5 million pensioners will be eligible - down from 11.4 million when the payment was universal. In considering the term 'needy', I'd reiterate that the National Minimum Wage for 2024 is £11.44 an hour, so someone who is working and works 40 hours a week would earn £457.60 a week = £23.795 a year. In contrast with that, pensioners on £11,350 and above who will lose their winter fuel allowance yet will be on
half the income of someone on the minimum wage. £218.00 a week.
The UK definition of 'poverty' in anyone who received 60% or less of the median wage, so to that extent, 'relative poverty' will never be eliminated, but using that benchmark of 'poverty' usually, salaries are higher in the public sector than in the private sector. In 2023, the median full-time salary for someone working in the private sector in the UK was £34,217, while those in the public sector earned a median salary of £36,708.
So taking a round figure of £35,000, 60% of that would be £21,000 (£404 a week). Yet pensioners who receive as little as £11,350 (£218 a week), well below the poverty line, will now lose their winter fuel allowance. Of course, many pensioners - particularly those who worked in the public sector, some of who such as police officers and firefighter, will have retired at 60 on a handsome final salary pension, as will be some who worked in the private sector, myself included.
I'm not strapped for cash and won't miss the payment, I'd just reiterate that until the announcement was made by Rachel Reeves, there had been no mention of this intention, and that both she and her sidekick Angela Raynor had denounced the Tory party saying "unlike them (the 'nasty party') your winter fuel allowance and pension is safe with us". I think that comfortably comes within the term 'hypocritical', especially when they've bought off and appeased the Unions with a pay rise ten times that of inflation. That won't of curse be the end of it. It brings to mind Neville Chamberlain wafting his piece of paper saying 'peace in our time'. (A lamb can lie down with a lion, but the lamb won't get much sleep).
