Proposal to raise State Pension to £22,000 gains traction | Personal Finance | Finance

An online petition calling on the UK Government to raise the New State Pension from £11,502 annually to £22,000 – equivalent to the yearly income of someone working a 35-hour week on the National Living Wage – has garnered over 5,900 signatures.

The proposal, put forth by Ken Marshall, suggests that all pensioners should receive £427.35 each week, or £1,709 every four weeks, aligning with the projected 2025/26 National Living Wage rate of £12.21 per hour.

Marshall contends that the gap between the State Pension and National Living Wage payments is “distressing” and insists that “we must not allow our senior citizens, who have contributed so much to our society, to struggle through their sunset years”.

He asserts that aligning the payments for the country’s 13 million pensioners with the National Living Wage is a matter of “matter of fairness and respect”.

The petition, titled ‘pay pensioners the equivalent of the living wage of a 35 hour week’, is hosted on the Petitions Parliament website. It reads: “The full rate of the New State Pension is currently £11,502.40 a year, while the annual income derived from the National Living Wage for a 35-hour week will from April be above £22,000. We think there is a distressing discrepancy between these two figures.”, reports the Daily Record.

We must not allow our senior citizens, who have contributed so much to our society, to struggle through their sunset years.

We consider that it is a matter of fairness and respect. We all deserve a decent life when we get old.

The manifesto states emphatically: “We believe that all pensioners must receive the equivalent of the living wage at 35 hours a week as a minimum. This could ensure a better quality of life for our country’s senior citizens and help ensure that no elderly person in our society has to face financial hardship.”

At 10,000 signatures the petition would be entitled to a written response from the UK Government and at 100,000, it would be considered by the Petitions Committee for debate in Parliament. You can view it in full here.

National Minimum Wage rates 2025/26

The National Minimum Wage for people over 21 is now:

• £12.21 per hour
• £427.35 for a typical 35-hour working week
• £,709.40 every four-week pay period or £1,851.85 per month
• £22,222.20 over the 2025/26 financial year

State Pension payments 2025/26

The New and Basic State Pensions increased by 4.1 per cent on April 7, additional elements such as deferred rates have gone up by 1.7 per cent.

Full New State Pension

• Weekly payment: £230.25 (from £221.20)
• Four-weekly payment: £921 (from £884.80)
• Annual amount: £11,973 (from £11,502)

Full Basic State Pension

• Weekly payment: £176.45 (from £169.50)
• Four-weekly payment: £705.80 (from £678)
• Annual amount: £9,175 (from £8,814)

Future State Pension increases

The Labour Government has pledged to honour the Triple Lock or the next five years and the latest predictions show the following projected annual increases:

• 2025/26 – 4.1% (the forecast was 4%)
• 2026/27 – 2.5%
• 2027/28 – 2.5%
• 2028/29 – 2.5%
• 2029/30 – 2.5%

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recently rejected proposals in a similar petition calling for the State Pension to increase to £549 every week for every person over the age of 60.

In a written response earlier this year, the DWP said that the UK Government “has no plans to make State Pension available from the age of 60 or to increase State Pension to equal 48 hours of work a week at the National Living Wage”.

The DWP response said that the UK Government is “committed to supporting current and future generations of pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement” and highlighted Labour’s commitment to the Triple Lock for the duration of this Parliament.

The DWP continued: “The State Pension and the National Living Wage have different purposes, and a direct comparison cannot be drawn. The National Living Wage is designed to protect low-income workers and provide an incentive to work.

“It is also worth noting that while State Pension is an entitlement based on a person’s National Insurance record, it is legally a benefit. From the time of the 1946 National Insurance Act, which applied from the inception of the National Insurance scheme, retirement pension (latterly also known as State Pension), has always been classified in law as a ‘benefit’.”

DWP also explained how the New State Pension was introduced in 2016 to be a “simpler, clearer, sustainable foundation for private saving, including workplace pensions supported through Automatic Enrolment”.

DWP added: “The introduction of Automatic Enrolment has both increased and equalised workplace pension participation rates between eligible men and women in the private sector. Together, the New State Pension and Automatic Enrolment provide a robust system for retirement provision for decades to come, with those on low incomes supported by Pension Credit which continues to provide a safety net.”

The DWP also said there are no plans to bring the State Pension age back down to 60, explaining how it is a pay-as-you-go system funded by current taxpayers.