{"id":125830,"date":"2026-09-22T13:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T12:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=125830"},"modified":"2026-09-22T13:07:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T12:07:17","slug":"dwp-rejects-call-for-14500-state-pension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/dwp-rejects-call-for-14500-state-pension\/","title":{"rendered":"DWP Rejects Call For \u00a314,500 State Pension After Thousands Back Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A campaign calling for a \u00a314,500 UK State Pension<\/strong> has been rejected by the government after more than 23,000 people<\/strong> signed a petition arguing that current payments do not provide an adequate retirement income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campaigners Compare State Pension With Minimum Wage Levels<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to East Anglian Daily Times<\/em><\/a>, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP<\/strong>) rejected a petition that called for the full New State Pension<\/strong> to rise to \u00a314,500, a figure campaigners say represents a minimum standard of living for retirees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The campaign was led by Mike Sobey<\/strong>, who argued that the current annual pension amount does not reflect the earnings available to younger workers under updated wage rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sobey says: “The National Living Wage age for 21+ is now \u00a323,132 (35 hour week; 52 week year). Even the National Minimum Wage for under 18’s is \u00a314,560 (same basis). My full New State Pension is only \u00a312,564 after working for a lifetime.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He says: “I believe for 65+ a minimum UK standard of living is \u00a314,500 and the State Pension should match this.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government Says Pension And Wage Systems Serve Different Roles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The government responded to the petition by stating that the State Pension<\/strong><\/a> and the National Minimum Wage<\/strong> are designed for different purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government said: “The State Pension and the National Minimum Wage have different purposes, and a direct comparison cannot be drawn.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The response reflects the government\u2019s position that pension payments and employment wages operate under separate systems with different objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"State
The campaign was led by Mike Sobey<\/strong>, who argued that the current annual pension amount does not reflect the earnings available to younger workers under updated wage rules.
\u00a9 Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Petition Highlights Wider Debate Over Retirement Income<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sobey also compared the UK State Pension with pension levels in other European countries, arguing that British retirees receive less support than some international counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sobey says: “The full New State Pension lags well behind those in Europe (UK only 13th of 28). Even an apprentice, or under 18 worker, is now legislated to earn a salary of at least \u00a314,560. For 18 to 20 year old workers this National Minimum Wage equates to \u00a319,747 per annum.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He adds: “For those who have worked and paid NI and taxes all their lives, we believe a full State Pension of \u00a312,564 is just not fair and equitable and the State Pension should be at least the \u00a314,500 necessary for a minimum standard of living for retirees.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The petition has added to ongoing discussions about retirement finances, inflation pressures, and the level of income older people need to meet everyday costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The campaign\u2019s petition attracted more than 23,000 signatures before receiving the government response rejecting the request for a \u00a314,500 State Pension.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A campaign calling for a \u00a314,500 UK State Pension has been rejected by the Department for Work and Pensions after gaining more than 23,000 signatures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":116175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retirement","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125830"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125833,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125830\/revisions\/125833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}