PensionsDec 12 2018

London dominates areas with lowest state pensions

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London dominates areas with lowest state pensions

Almost all of the areas where retirees got the lowest state pension payments in the country were London boroughs.

Newham, Tower Hamlets and Hackney were the three areas with the lowest state pension payments in the UK, according to analysis by Salisbury House Wealth.

Nine of the 10 areas with the lowest payments were in London while all but one of the areas with the highest payments were in the Home Counties.

While pensioners in Newham, which took the bottom spot, received just £6,910 on average, retirees in Chiltern in Buckinghamshire got the highest state pension, with £8,310 on average.

Meanwhile Wycombe had the second-highest state pension payment and Surrey Heath had the third.

The research also revealed men received 20 per cent more state pension than women, at £8,650 compared to £7,220, which it attributed to the gender pay gap.

The state pension is based on the number of qualifying years of National Insurance contributions a person has gained, either through paying them or by being credited with them because of illness or unemployment.

Tim Holmes, managing director at Salisbury House Wealth, said: "Although there are clear geographical and gender-based state pension gaps, what the figures really show is how low state pension payments are across the board.

"A state pension will rarely fund the retirement that many people desire, so it is therefore crucial pensioners supplement this with a private pot."

Mr Holmes highlighted that consumer group Which suggested pensioners need an annual income of between £13,500 and £19,000 to live on.

He added: "The key is starting to save early. Incrementally saving into a pension pot and benefitting from the effects of compound growth can make a huge difference in terms of flexibility in retirement. It gives pensioners greater spending power whilst potentially still leaving something for the next generation."