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Monday, November 17, 2008, 08:00
LLOYD George’s Old Age Pension Act of 1908 was the first time that central government had accepted direct responsibility for its citizens in their old age.
Prior to this time the old and infirm had to rely on the Elizabethan Poor Laws of 1597 and 1601 based on the parish.
Then, in Victorian times, came the dreaded workhouses, run by a combination of parishes.
In fact the Poor Laws, amended a number of times throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, were not really superseded until the National Assistance Act of 1948.
But there’s no denying that the Old Age Pension Act was a breakthrough – a dignified alternative to either parish support or the poorhouse.
Germany had shown the way by introducing the first comprehensive old age pension system in 1889.
An emerging Labour Party and the trade unions then embraced the idea, with public meetings to discuss the issue being held in cities up and down the country.
The first payments – five shillings (25p) a week payable to men and women over the age of 70 – were made in January 1909.
More than half a million people were eligible.
For a married couple it meant a handout of seven shillings and sixpence (37p) a week.
The means-tested pension was paid on a sliding scale, but only to those with a weekly income below 12 shillings (60p) a week.
And only those with an income below eight shillings (35p) a week got the full benefit.
It certainly wasn’t a lot to live on.
One hundred years ago, five shillings (25p) was equivalent to about 20 per cent of the average weekly income.
If you were claiming poor (parish) relief, had spent time in prison, were a drunkard detained under the Inebriates Act 1898, or had been guilty of a “habitual failure to work”, then you were disqualified.
You still had to be, as the Victorians had phrased it, one of the “deserving poor”.
But the rules weren’t going to stop people, and by 1914 there were nearly one million claimants, costing the Government £12 million a year.
In 1908, only a quarter of people lived long enough to qualify; in 2008, four in five reach that landmark, and claim a pension for much longer.
The country at present supports 12 million pensioners, more than
two million of whom claim to be living in poverty.
THE press officer for the West Country branch of the National Pensioners’ Convention, Doug Daniels, told Bristol Times that the Bristol writer and philanthropist, Hannah More, had played a big part in helping those facing retirement.
“Hannah More, one of five daughters, was born in 1745 in a cottage in Fishponds,” explained Douglas. “Their father, Jacob, was a schoolmaster there.
“Since they all lived in very cramped surroundings life must have been hard and this, no doubt, weighed heavily on their minds.
“Hannah’s sister, Mary, set up a girls’ school in Park Street in 1758, where she became a pupil and later a teacher.
“A passionate writer, she devoted much of her life to helping and providing education for poor country children.
“During the course of her work, Hannah got to know the MP William Wilberforce – well known for his contribution in abolishing the slave trade.
“It’s important that some part of this pension centenary should commemorate the stalwart contribution made by Hannah and her associates for helping to improve the lives of the poor.
“It seems that championing their plight comes from those who have actually experienced poverty at some time in their lives.
“While present-day conditions are incomparable with those of the past, the cost
of living is now rapidly outstripping pensioners’ income.
“If we are to halt this trend then pensions must, once more, be indexed to the cost of living.
“With concessionary bus passes and winter heating allowances, some MPs are of the opinion that pensioners have ‘never had it so good’.
“But present day costs of living belittle that argument.
The cost of food and utility services such as gas, electricity and water are not being realised.
“We hope that the pensions rally will throw light on these issues so that those in power can be encouraged to bring about some improvements… now.
“We owe much to the likes of social reformer Hannah More for striving to improve the lives of the elderly and seek a fairer deal in their retirement years.”
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