Old Age Pensions Act 1908

The Old Age Pensions Act 1908 (8 Edw. 7. c. 40) is an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, passed in 1908. The act is one of the foundations of modern social welfare in both the present-day United Kingdom and the Irish Republic and forms part of the wider social welfare reforms of the Liberal government of 1906–1914.^[1]

Old Age Pensions Act 1908

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to provide for Old-Age Pensions.
Citation	8 Edw. 7. c. 40
Territorial extent	England and Wales; Scotland; Ireland
Dates
Royal assent	1 August 1908
Commencement	1 January 1909
Other legislation
Amended by	Old Age Pensions Act 1924
Repealed by	Old Age Pensions Act 1936
Status: Repealed

Old Age Pensions Act 1924
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to amend paragraph (3) of section two of the Old Age Pensions Act, 1908.
Citation	14 & 15 Geo. 5. c. 33
Dates
Royal assent	7 August 1924
Other legislation
Amends	Old Age Pensions Act 1908

Successful single claimants over the age of seventy were paid five shillings a week, while couples in which the husband was aged over seventy got seven shillings and sixpence per week.^[2]

History

A royal commission (1893-1895) chaired by Lord Aberdare investigated the viability of old age pensions, but issued an adverse verdict for economic reasons.^[3] A second committee (1896-1898) chaired by Lord Rothschild gave an adverse verdict on setting up an old age pension.^[3] A 1899 committee reported favorably on establishing old age pensions for those above the age of 65.^[3] A number of bills were introduced in Parliament over the period 1900-1907.^[3]

The Old Age Pensions Act 1908 was passed in Parliament on May 7, 1908 in H. H. Asquith's budget.^[3]

Outline

The act provided for a non-contributory old age pension for people over the age of seventy, with the cost being borne by taxpayers generally. It was enacted in 1908 and was to pay a weekly pension of 5s (7s 6d for married couples) with effect from 1 January 1909. The level of benefit was deliberately set low – the approximate equivalent of £23 for unmarried pensioners and £37 for married pensioners in 21st century terms^[4] – to encourage workers to go on making their own provision for retirement.

In order to be eligible, claimants had to be over the age of 70, have been a British subject for 20 years and have resided in Great Britain and Ireland for at least twenty years. It was open to both men and women, both married and single, their "yearly means" not exceeding £31 10s.^[5] Only those with a 'good character' could receive the pensions.^[5] Others excluded from receiving the new pension were those in receipt of poor relief, those being held in what were then called 'lunatic asylums', those who had served a prison sentence and been released less than ten years before, those convicted of drunkenness (at the discretion of the court), and any person who was guilty of ‘habitual failure to work’, according to ability.^[6]

Implementation

The pension was due to be paid from 1 January 1909, and those eligible had to apply to a local pension committee starting in October 1908 set up by the county councils.^[5] Forms for applicants were available from the end of September 1908 and had to be returned to the postmaster of the post office that would pay the individual's benefit.^[5] The claims were assessed by the pension officers and then sent to the local pension committee for approval.^[5]

On 31 December 1908 a total of 596,038 pensions had been granted:^[7]

Rate	England (excluding Monmouthshire)	Wales (including Monmouthshire)	Scotland	Ireland
5s	297,332	19,691	60,787	161,578
4s	15,178	864	1,443	3,101
3s	14,830	805	1,488	3,131
2s	7,185	362	656	1,628
1s	4,423	234	395	927
Totals	338,948	21,956	64,769	170,365

Effects

• Initially, most of the recipients of the pension benefit were women. In order to remove any stigma in receiving the benefit, the scheme was administered by the Post Office rather than the existing social welfare agencies such as the parish or Poor Law.
• As Winston Churchill (with David Lloyd George a major social reformer of the era) said of the pension level, "It is not much unless you have not got it".^[4]
• Flora Thompson, who helped administer the first Post Office payouts, has movingly recorded the relief and gratitude of the first recipients: "'God bless that Lord George and God bless you, miss!' and there were flowers from their gardens and apples from their trees for the girl who merely handed them the money".^[8]

UK Liberal Party poster in 1909 defends new old age pension shown as a little dog while the rich aristocratic landlord has a huge pension (shown as a very large dog).

See also

• National Insurance Act 1911
• Pension provision in the United Kingdom
• Timeline of pensions in the United Kingdom
• History of the welfare state in the United Kingdom
• Liberal welfare reforms

State pensions acts

• Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act 1925
• National Insurance Act 1946
• National Insurance Act 1965
• Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992

Private pensions acts

• Superannuation and other Funds (Validation) Act 1992
• Pension Schemes Act 1993
• Pensions Act 1995
• Pensions Act 2004
• Pensions Act 2007
• Pensions Act 2008