{"id":263229,"date":"2025-11-05T01:37:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T01:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/263229\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T01:37:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T01:37:13","slug":"heres-why-the-uks-state-pension-is-the-least-generous-across-the-g7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/263229\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s why the UK\u2019s state pension is the least generous across the G7"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 jEZjIj\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 jEZjIj\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 jEZjIj\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p>Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n<p>Research has placed the UK\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/state-pension\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">state pension<\/a> at the bottom of the pile against other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/g7\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">G7<\/a> nations, with British <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/pensioners\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">pensioners<\/a> getting only 22 per cent of their pre-retirement income on average from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/state-pension\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">state pension<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>That stacks up poorly when directly contrasted to the 76 per cent of Italy or up to 58 per cent in France, data from wealth management firm Fidelity International shows.<\/p>\n<p>But the research also shows a wide variance in how retirement incomes are funded, what other services are paid for by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/pensioners\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">pensioners<\/a> and how retirement income is calculated for individuals across each of those nations, meaning a direct comparison is not always entirely clear-cut.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s important to be cautious when drawing direct parallels \u2013 every system has its own rules and funding mechanisms,\u201d said Fidelity\u2019s personal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/finance\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">finance<\/a> expert Marianna Hunt. \u201cIn the UK, for example, today\u2019s state pension is largely funded through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/national-insurance\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">national insurance contributions<\/a>, whereas in Italy employees contribute around 9-11 per cent of their salary towards social security, which also covers pensions and other benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The variance is also visible by the fact the state pension in the UK is a set amount depending on the number of years worked and so on, while in France, for example, the 25 highest-earning years of a person\u2019s working life are used to give an average, from which the retirement amount is then derived \u2013 up to half of that figure, with with minimum and maximum amounts along with other criteria.<\/p>\n<p>Here in the UK,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/home-news\/state-pension-changes-increase-inheritance-tax-age-b2828118.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> the state pension<\/a> acts as a foundational chunk of income to which it is hoped people can add additional monthly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/money\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">money<\/a> through private or workplace pensions, or other assets such as investments or property. Elsewhere, it may be the main or full amount <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/home-news\/state-pension-changes-review-68-rise-when-b2798682.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">of retirement income<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Making workplace pensions an opt-out policy has been successful in getting British people to save additionally for the future, yet it is still estimated that many people will fall short in having the money to maintain a comfortable lifestyle in retirement.<\/p>\n<p>Additional recent data from Standard Life suggested people believe they\u2019ll have to retire at least four years later than they ideally wanted to, due to finance pressures, while more than half (53 per cent) of respondents to a survey said they were worried they weren\u2019t saving enough for retirement.<\/p>\n<p>The new research from Fidelity shows the state pension age as being younger in the UK than in Italy or the USA, though the average expected number of years for a person to receive the state pension \u2013 at 19.8 \u2013 was notably fewer than for Canada, France, Italy or Japan.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/mobile-stores\/Trading_212.svg\" width=\"153\" height=\"40\" alt=\"Trading 212 logo\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-118zqaw-6 Ewzp\">Get a free fractional share worth up to \u00a3100.<br \/>Capital at risk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-118zqaw-7 kxJQLw\">Terms and conditions apply.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"sc-1aus1tj-0 fnUAVY sc-118zqaw-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.trading212.com\/join\/TI?af_xp=custom&amp;source_caller=ui&amp;pid=partners&amp;utm_source=network_the_independent&amp;shortlink=l9wss7fd&amp;utm_medium=text_advertising&amp;af_adset=text_advertising&amp;af_ad=text_advertising&amp;utm_campaign=text_advertising&amp;af_channel=network_the_independent&amp;c=the_independent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Go to website<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-118zqaw-8 coIuAW\">ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/mobile-stores\/Trading_212.svg\" width=\"153\" height=\"40\" alt=\"Trading 212 logo\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-118zqaw-6 Ewzp\">Get a free fractional share worth up to \u00a3100.<br \/>Capital at risk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-118zqaw-7 kxJQLw\">Terms and conditions apply.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"sc-1aus1tj-0 fnUAVY sc-118zqaw-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.trading212.com\/join\/TI?af_xp=custom&amp;source_caller=ui&amp;pid=partners&amp;utm_source=network_the_independent&amp;shortlink=l9wss7fd&amp;utm_medium=text_advertising&amp;af_adset=text_advertising&amp;af_ad=text_advertising&amp;utm_campaign=text_advertising&amp;af_channel=network_the_independent&amp;c=the_independent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Go to website<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-118zqaw-8 coIuAW\">ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>UK government spending on state pensions as a percentage of GDP stands at 4.7 per cent, according to the Fidelity data \u2013 the joint-lowest in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/g7\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">G7<\/a>, with Italy (12.8 per cent) being the highest. Despite that, there have been concerns that with the state pension<a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/money\/state-pension-boost-triple-lock-wages-tax-b2827309.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> due to rise significantly from April<\/a>, the amount spent on it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/money\/state-pension-age-80-government-review-obr-b2802145.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">will be rendered \u201ccompletely unaffordable\u201d<\/a> without a rise in pension age to 80.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, having the NHS means the UK has a health service \u2013 an important service for pensioners in particular \u2013 which is almost entirely free to use at point of contact, in stark contrast to the US or Canada, and even to European members of the G7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[64,63,99,186,184,185],"class_list":{"0":"post-263229","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-finance","12":"tag-personal-finance","13":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}