Thousands back call for £350 state pension increase slammed over 'issues'

A new petition is demanding that state pension payments be aligned with 48 hours of work per week on the National Living Wage and provided to people six years sooner. The proposal would boost the state pension to £586 per week beginning from age 60.

With nearly 7,000 signatures collected at the time of writing, the concept clearly has backing, but one expert is highlighting the flaws in this financial scheme. Karen Barrett, founder and chief executive of Unbiased, said it's an aspiration that's improbable to materialise.

She said: "A new petition calling to reduce the age to access the state pension to 60 and boosting it in line with the National Living Wage sounds like a dream, but comes with many potential issues. One of the biggest issues facing the UK government is the staggering cost of the state pension.

"The full new state pension is currently £230.25 per week, so increasing it to £586 per week in line with the National Living Wage will hike these costs substantially, making it unlikely that the government will implement any changes."

Currently, the full new state pension delivers £230.25 per week or £176.45 per week on the basic state pension.

Karen encouraged people to "consider the state pension as a supplement to your retirement income, rather than the key to funding it".

She continued: "That's why it's vital that you build up your wealth throughout your lifetime to prepare for your golden years, which includes contributing to personal and workplace pensions. It's never too early - or late - to start planning for the future, especially retirement."

The amount people receive from state pension varies from person to person with only around half of those claiming the new state pension receive the complete amount accoridng to Royal London.

This is because the sum you get depends on how many years you paid National Insurance or obtained National Insurance credits. You require 35 qualifying years to get the full new state pension.

Both state pension rates increase every April according to the triple lock mechanism which guarantees it will rise by the highest of three figures; inflation, wage rises or 2.5%. Experts forecast a 5.2% rise next April, based on current wage growth in the UK.

This would result in people receiving £242.90 per week next year on the new state pension, an annual rate of £12,630 which creates an entirely new challenge for pensioners as this exceeds the personal allowance.

Labour confirmed earlier this year that the Personal Allowance, the sum most people can earn each year before paying income tax, will remain frozen at £12,570 until April 2028 according to the Daily Record.