Old Age Pensions Act 1908

The Old Age Pensions Act 1909 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed in 1909. The Act is often regarded as the 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.Gazeley, I., "Poverty in Britain 1900-1945", Palgrave, (2003).]

Provisions under the Act

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 £31.50 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. [J. Macnicol, The Politics of Retirement in Britain, 1908-1948 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998) pp. 157-8.]

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.

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