The UK is a great place, but it is becoming more apparent that home ownership and pensions have to be at the top of our list.
I decided to look at a few things based on the years of state pension changes in the UK.
Looking at the four years, it’s clear, state pensions were not really meant to be attainable and they definitely was not built for our current society.
In 1908 the pension age was 70, whilst the average life expectancy was 51, 1925 it was 65 and 49 and in 2020 it’s 66 and 81, we’ve gone from the state pension being unreachable to possible having it for 15 years.
People living longer also means, less housing and increased job competition.
If you also look at the UK population when pensions have changed, you will find we go from a 44-46 million to 67 million in 2020. (Despite this explosion, articles state that we are not having enough children to sustain us in future, but this I worry less about as I know immigration can solve this).
Thankfully we have not had a disease/war reduce the population by > 4% since WW2
Here’s some horrible history:
1348 – 1350 The black plague
The plague killed 30-40% of the UK population, which is estimated to be 2 million.
1642 – 1651 The Wars of the Three Kingdoms
There were three wars, which were fought between Charles I and Parliament, which resulted in 4.5% of the population dying, estimated to be circa 200,000 people.
1665 – 1666 Plague of London
This only effected London but 15% of the population died, while 68,596 deaths were recorded in the city, the true number was probably over 100,000. Other parts of the country also suffered but not to the same scale as London.
1914 – 1918 WW1
Unfortunately my google search gave me mixed figures, I can say it is between 800k – 1.3m deaths (including non-military).
1939 – 1945 WW2
I get mixed results online but can say circa 450,000 people (including non-military) died during WW2.
2020 – Ongoing
210,457 deaths due to covid 19, Which is less than 1% of the population.
A table I threw together FYR:
| Year Pension Age set | Age of state pension | Life expectancy of that year | UK population estimates | Average income | Average house price |
| 1908 | 70 | 51.03 | 44,123,800 | £70.00 | Unknown |
| 1925 | 65 | 48.89 | 45,040,000 | £260.00 | 600.00 |
| 1940 | 65 Men, Women 60 | 62.34 | 46,029,200 | £234.00 | 700.00 |
| 2020 | 66 both | 81.15 | 67,195,769 | 30,800 | 256,000 |
| 2026 | 67 | ||||
| 2044 | 68 |
A lot of us are saddled with university debt which also incurs interest; add this to everything else getting fiscally out of control and you get the picture.
1998 univeristy fees were circa £1000.00 PY
2006 univeristy fees were circa £3000.00 PY
2012 university fees were circa £9000.00 PY
My thoughts:
If for whatever reason you’ve not thought of a pension plan, start now, see a financial advisor if you have to but plan now, it’s never too early; our UK today is far different from yesteryear, social housing is depleted, private rental prices are insane, utilities bills are nuts too, NHS future is questionable, citizen advice bureau is not what it once was, university fees have sky rocketed and I can’t see Universal Basic Income being granted as there are issues of how to fund it and it’s image of it being a payment scheme for the lazy.
This is not a bleak picture, as I know Brits are very resourceful but some of you may end up renting until the day you die, and may have the unfortunate impact of your skillset being devalued whether it’s due to competition from AI/machine learning, redundancy or from new candidates entering the market, that role that is 30-50k today, could take a hard hit.
Whilst we can’t predict the future, we can try to picture best and worse case scenario’s and hope our preparations for these, cover us either way.
This generation is not lazy or ‘doesn’t want to work’, this generation has started on the steepest incline, so while they may not be running at the pace of the past, they are climbing at one heck of a rate.
Image from:
Links:
Cheaper in those days? Prices and earnings – UK Parliament
A taste of life in Britain in 1925 (telegraph.co.uk)
UK House Price Index (data.gov.uk)
Birth rates: Why Londoners have stopped having babies as UK hits record low | Evening Standard
Great Plague of 1665-1666 – The National Archives
The Black Death – Historic UK (historic-uk.com)
Great Plague of 1665-1666 – The National Archives
First World War: fatalities per country 1914-1918 | Statista
World War I casualties – Wikipedia
VE Day: How many people died in World War Two? | Express.co.uk
Deaths in the UK | Coronavirus in the UK (data.gov.uk)
Higher education tuition fees in England – House of Commons Library (parliament.uk)
Brainthrough 