The UK Government has rejected a minimum weekly state pension payment of £416 for anyone over the age of 60. An online petition with more than 34,250 signatures called for the payment to be increased and the age of retirement to be lowered.
The current payment rates are up to £185.15 for those on the new state pension and £141.85 for those on the basic pension. The contributory benefit is administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and it will be increased in April by 101% under the triple lock rule.
This will mean the new state pension will rise to £203.85 and the basic pension will rise to £156.20. The petition creator, Michael Thompson, stated that increasing the payment rate to £416 per week would mean an annual income of £21,673.60, which would lift "thousands out of poverty", reports the Daily Record.
