Old-Age Pensions Act 1908

Old-Age Pensions Act 1908

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	...
Statute book chapter	1908 c
Territorial extent	England and Wales; Scotland; Ireland
Dates
Royal Assent	1908
Status: Repealed

The Old-Age Pensions Act 1908 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed in 1908. The Act is often regarded as one of the foundations of modern social welfare in the United Kingdom and forms part of the wider social welfare reforms of the Liberal Government of 1906-1914.^[1]

Outline

The Act provided for a non-contributory old age pension for persons over the age of 70. It was enacted in January 1909 and paid a weekly pension of 5s a week (7s 6d for married couples) to half a million who were eligible. The level of benefit was deliberately set low to encourage workers to also make their own provision for retirement. In order to be eligible, they had to be earning less than £21.10s. per year, and had to pass a 'character test'; only those with a 'good character' could receive the pensions.

Also excluded were those in receipt of poor relief, ‘lunatics’ in asylums, persons sentenced to prison for ten years after their release, persons convicted of drunkenness (at the discretion of the court), and any person who was guilty of ‘habitual failure to work’ according to one’s ability.^[2]

Implementation

The pension was due to be paid from 1 January 1909 and those eligible had to apply to a Local Pension Committee starting in October 1908 set up by the county councils.^[3] Those eligible had to be over the age of 70, must have been a British subject for 20 years and have resided in the United Kingdom.^[3] It was open to both men and women, both married and single, and their yearly means must not exceed £31 10s.^[3] Forms for applicants were available from end of September 1908 and had to be returned to the Postmaster of the Post Office that will pay the individual's benefit.^[3] The claims were assessed by the Pension Officers and then sent to the Local Pension Committee for approval.^[3]

On 31 December 1908 a total of 596,038 pensions had been granted^[4]:

Rate	England (excluding Monmouthshire)	Wales (including Monmouthshire)	Scotland	Ireland
5s	297332	19691	60787	161578
4s	15178	864	1443	3101
3s	14830	805	1488	3131
2s	7185	362	656	1628
1s	4423	234	395	927
Totals	338948	21956	64769	170365

Effects

Initially, most of the recipients of the pension benefit were women. In order to remove any stigma in receiving the benefit, the scheme was administered by the Post Office rather than the existing social welfare agencies such as the parish or Poor Law.

See also

• National Insurance Act 1911
• Pension provision in the United Kingdom

State pensions acts

• Widows ‘Orphans’ and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act 1925
• National Insurance Act 1946
• National Insurance Act 1965
• Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (c 4)

Private pensions acts

• Superannuation and other Funds (Validation) Act 1992
• Pension Schemes Act 1993
• Pensions Act 1995
• Pensions Act 2004
• Pensions Act 2007
• Pensions Act 2008

References

1. ^ Gazeley, I., Poverty in Britain 1900-1945, Palgrave, (2003).
2. ^ J Macnicol, The Politics of Retirement in Britain, 1908-1948 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1998) 157-8.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} "The Old-Age Pensions Act. The Regulations." (News). The Times (London). Saturday, 22 August 1908. Issue 38732, col C, p. 10.
4. ^ "Old-Age Pensions. Official Statistics." (News). The Times (London). Thursday, 21 January 1909. Issue 38862, col B, p. 10.