I was amazed when discussing state pension with a few friends to hear that none of them were on the full pension because they were contributions short. Maybe it's not widely known that if females were at home unemployed but bringing up children under the age of 12 they can claim "credits" to enable them to get full pension .Some have applied & had pension changed & received the rightful amount backdated. I believe this was a subject on last weeks Martin Lewis TV programme. Ladies if you're one of these Mums pick up the phone & contact the Pensions Department

Not only that but if you were contracted-out for national insurance then your entitlement is reduced.

Also on the old state scheme wives could use their husband's contributions which has been stopped.

Sneaky ways to reduce the pension bill and try to persuade people to work beyond their normal retirement age.

The savings are going straight into rich peoples pockets.

I get pension based on my ex husband's contributions .

It is confusing even so. According to HMG. the basic state pension is now �159.55p per week. That seems fine, but those of us who retired at 60 yrs are on almost �100 less every 4 weeks.

I assume that is because those who had the pension age increased , would lose out over a period of years.

If that is right, what happens when the state pension has increments of it's 2% per annum ( for example) ? Does that apply to those who are now on a higher basic state pension also, as it would mean the gap between old pensions and new pensions will get wider ?

Required Years of contributions has also changed wildly, it was reduced by labour then increased again by the tortes.

I�m not even sure if all the data is available to calculate your pension yourself.

Here's another one for you to get your teeth into Digging. On Working Tax Credit? If you get a measly rise in your pension it's deducted from WTC so you basically get nothing .

Well, if you voted tory, then its all you can expect. That's what 'austerity' is all about. Removing cash from the poor and handing it to the rich.

It has been - and in every country where it has been tried - a dismal failure in curing any economic downturn.

Yes but if you are a pensioner on such low income you get WTC then you probably get Pension Credit which guarantees a minimum income - its a pretty mad system whereby it doesn't always benefit to pay into a pension scheme. Also to receive WTC you must have a working income which probably puts you outside of most benefits and credits when you add the pension plus earned income.

If you aren't a pensioner but receiving a pension then it is just another income and clearly should be deducted from any benefits system.

Pension Credit is a halfway step to the Basic Income system which although counter-intuitive makes a lot of sense when you analyse it. Under Basic Income, everybody unconditionally receives a fixed basic payment.

The OECD has reported that the UK has the lowest state pension of any developed country. Our state pension is about a third of Italy or Holland for example.