Pensioners receive £470 boost to State Pension

Millions of pensioners could now recieve as much as £470 more a year added to their State Pension, as the Government’s Triple Lock takes effect.

This comes alongside the annual uprating of working-age benefits such as Universal Credit, with people receiving those set to receive an extra £150 on average over the course of this year.

Disability benefits such as Disability Living Allowance, Carers Allowance and Child Benefits are also set to increase by the same amount.

The Triple Lock – which guarantees that the State Pension increases annually by the highest of inflation, average earnings growth or 2.5% – now means the basic and new State Pensions are increasing by 4.1%.

In additon the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wag has also increased, benefiting three million eligible workers across the country.

With the National Living Wage increasing to £12.21 for those aged 21 and over and the National Minimum Wage for those aged 18 to 20 seeing a record increase to £10 an hour, three million workers will benefit, with eligible full-time workers set to see an increase in their annual salary of £1,400.

The uprating of State Pensions and working-age benefits will amount to a cash boost of over £6.9bn.

The Government’s efforts to support low-income pensioners has led to 50,000 extra Pension Credit awards since the summer – an increase of 64% compared to the same period last year.