elderly

• In the early 1900s in Britain, many old people were so poor that they could not afford or be able to save for their retirement. This meant that some had to work 'until they dropped', or live an extremely poor final years, relying on charity or worse.
• Lloyd George, the chancellor, introduced the Old Age Pensions 1908, which provided a pension for British people over the age of 70.
• • The pension was 5 shillings a week. It was means-tested, with the full amount paid to those with incomes below £21 a year and reduced on a sliding scale for those with incomes between £21 and £31 and ten shillings.
  • All people over 70 were eligible, as long as they had resided in Britain fro more than 20 years.
• OLD AGE PENSION ANALYSIS - FOR

  • By 1914, one million people were receiving a pension, therefore revolutionising how the state dealt with public pay,mets and the older members of society.
• OLD AGE PENSION ANALYSIS - AGAINST

  • People complained that not everyone could claim these pensions.
  • People who had been in prison in the previous 2 years were excluded, as well as those who had failed to work regularly.
• EVALUATION

  The elderly were helped the least by the Liberal reforms because life expectancy in some industrial slums was in the mid-40s so few people lived long enough to claim the pension at 70.