State Pension centenary
1 August 2008 marks 100 years of the State Pension. It's an opportunity for us to salute the pension pioneers whose vision gave this country a vital base for our later years.
Please download the information on this page to use in a feature or broadcast. Some of the documents are provided courtesy of archives, please credit the relevant archive as directed on the documents.
You will see from the documents how different today's pension is to the one of 1908 and that we face new challenges. We live longer and want more from those years. For example, in 2063, we should have our first 120 year old. This means she is already 65 and drawing her state pension. She will do so for half her life.
The Old Age Pension Act
The Old Age Pension Act came into force on 1 August 1908:
- it was income and character tested
- it was worth a maximum of 5 shillings a week for a single British citizen aged over 70 (equivalent of about £19.30 a week today)
- people were excluded from getting a pension if they had avoided working when able, made themselves poor in order to qualify, had been imprisoned or convicted under the Inebriates Act.
Pension officers from 1908 onwards did day to day assessments, visiting the homes of claimants. Compensation claims from officers following these visits ranged from illness contracted in the slums to an insect bite to falling through a trap door.
Pension applications were submitted to committees of nine people (at least two of whom had to be women). Successful pensioners were issued with an order book to be cashed each week.
Archive material
To find out more, see the archive material below. Please attribute all material you use to either the National Archives or Royal Mail if directed to do so on the documents.
- Extract from the Old Age Pension Bill detailing the means and character test as reported in The Times on 3 June 1908 (Royal Mail archives) (14KB)
- List of successful claims, appeals and pension meetings (National Archives AST3 series) –extracts of Pension Committee meetings (1908–10), examples of successful claims and arguments put forward in appeals when claims to the Old Age Pension were rejected (39KB)
- State pension statistics, comparing 1908 and now – for example demographics, longevity (22KB)
- Cost of living in 1908 – shows the cost of food, fuel and rent in the early 1900s (16KB)
- Cost of a basket of goods in 2008 compared to today (16KB)
- Claims for compensation because of injuries to pension officers in the 1900s (National Archives AST15/17 series) – injuries sustained by Pension Officers and the amount of money in compensation they received in return (24KB)
- Exchange between officials on how to avoid "fraud" – imprisoned and inebriated pensioners (National Archives record AST 15/63) – short extract of correspondence between officials on how to ensure pensioners were taken away from imprisoned or inebriated pensioners (11KB)
- Diary of pensions adviser in 2008 – a day in the life of Michelle, one of our local pension service advisors in Wales as she visits pensioners in her local area (13KB)
Photos
- Women picking oakum in workhouse (National Archives photo) (68KB JPEG)
- The worst street in London (National Archives photo) (53KB)
- Five generations of the Fleckney Family (National Archives photo) (90KB JPEG)
- London slums (National Archives photo) (67KB JPEG)
- Poultry pluckers (National Archives photo) (75KB JPEG)
- Women dustmen in Vauxhall (National Archives photo) (101KB JPEG)
Archive documents
- Front page of Old Age Pension Act (Parliamentary Archives) (50KB JPEG)
- Map of Macclesfield workhouse (Cheshire and Chester Archives) (122KB JPEG)
- Extract on injuries (National Archives) (87KB JPEG)
- Front page of sample pension book (49KB JPEG)
- DWP timeline of pension reform (1.3MB)
If you require high resolution images, please contact Kathy Barlow, DWP Press Office, kathy.barlow@dwp.gsi.gov.uk 0203 267 5128