Old Age Pensions Act 1908
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| Long title | ... |
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| Citation | 1908 c |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales; Scotland; Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 1908 |
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Status: Repealed
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The Old-Age Pensions Act 1908 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed in 1908. The Act is often regarded as one of the foundations of modern social welfare in the United Kingdom and forms part of the wider social welfare reforms of the Liberal Government of 1906–1914.
The Act provided for a non-contributory old age pension for people over the age of 70, with the cost being borne by younger generations. It was enacted in January 1909 and paid a weekly pension of 5s a week (7s 6d for married couples) to half a million who were eligible. The level of benefit was deliberately set low to encourage workers to also make their own provision for retirement. In order to be eligible, they had to be earning less than £31. 10s. per year, and had to pass a 'character test'; only those with a 'good character' could receive the pensions. You also had to have been a UK resident for at least 20 years to be eligible and people who hadn't worked their whole life were also not eligible.
Also excluded were those in receipt of poor relief, people being held in what were then called 'lunatics asylums', persons sentenced to prison for ten years after their release, persons convicted of drunkenness (at the discretion of the court), and any person who was guilty of ‘habitual failure to work’ according to one’s ability.
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. Those eligible had to be over the age of 70, must have been a British subject for 20 years and have resided in the United Kingdom. It was open to both men and women, both married and single, and their yearly means must not exceed £31. 10s. Forms for applicants were available from end of September 1908 and had to be returned to the Postmaster of the Post Office that will pay the individual's benefit. The claims were assessed by the Pension Officers and then sent to the Local Pension Committee for approval.
On 31 December 1908 a total of 596,038 pensions had been granted:
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.
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