POLL: Should state pension be increased for older disabled people?

An online petition is calling for the state pension to be increased by £25 for disabled people to provide stability and reduce the pension wealth gap.

The creator of the petition, Aneesha Sandhu, said that the £25 weekly boost to both the basic and full state pension would “help provide stability for retired disabled workers who need it most”.

The full state pension rose from £185.15 per week to £203.85 in April, while the basic pension increased to £156.20, from £141.85. 

The petition highlights that just 54 percent of the four million disabled workers across the UK are saving into a private pension.

It adds that while 53 percent of disabled people are working, this is significantly lower than 82 percent of non-disabled people.

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The petition on the Parliament website currently has over 300 signatures and if it reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a response to the petition. While if it reaches 100,000 signatures of support it will be considered for debate in Parliament. 

Analysis by Scottish Widows shows the average disabled person will receive just over the annual state pension income of £11,000 per year. This is less than two-thirds of what the average non-disabled person will receive.

The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association reports that an individual needs an income of £12,800 in retirement to fund a minimum standard of living.

Charity Scope states that the average disabled household needs an additional £975 a month to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households, meaning it is harder to save for retirement.

So what do YOU think? Should the state pension be increased for older disabled people? Vote in our poll and leave your thoughts in the comment section below.