Individuals will see their state pension increase by £4.25 a week from next April to £168.60, according to new tables published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) today (November 23).
The state pension will rise in line with the 2.6 per cent earnings growth figure from July 2018, since the triple lock policy dictates that the increase will be equal to last September’s consumers price index (CPI), earnings growth or 2.5 per cent, whichever is the greatest.
Inflation went down to 2.2 per cent in September alongside the 2.4 per cent rate for prices, meaning earnings come out top.
Individuals receiving the old state pension will see an increase from £125.95 to £129.20 a week.
The rises will be the same for the poorest pensioners, receiving pension credit, since this benefit is increase in line with earnings growth.
These individuals will see their weekly income increase by £4.25 a week, from £163 to £167.25.
The government was recently criticised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for maintaining the triple lock, which said this was an "unsustainable method of indexation, poorly targeted to those most in need, and not in line with international best practices" and recommended indexing the payment to inflation instead.
Steve Webb, director of policy at Royal London, said: "The gap between the amount of money that pensioners have to live on each week and the amount paid to working age adults has grown even larger as a result of this uprating.
"Linking pensions and pension credit to earnings whilst freezing working age benefits yet again means that the minimum income for retired people is now roughly double that available to unemployed people under pension age.
"It is hard to think that these benefit rates are a fair reflection of the relative cost of living of the different groups."
maria.espadinha@ft.com
