£10 Christmas Bonus
Comments
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well if I've upset anyone then it's not intended, some people are just harder than most and can take it on the chin, but obviously it doesn't look like that.
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I think that's a very interesting and valid point @MW123.
As a couple of other people have already mentioned, I do sometimes wonder whether the reason it continues is because of the complaints they’d receive if they stopped it and how it would play out in the media, etc. for any government that did. Despite that, in its current form, I can’t help but question how much support it actually provides.
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Water off a ducks back with me i am sure the people who need it are thankful and the people who don't want more
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Michael, I respect your point of view. However, I’d be interested to know if you feel the £10 still carries the same meaning it did when first introduced in 1972 to help pensioners with the extra costs of Christmas.
Back then, £10 had the purchasing power of around £170 today, so it genuinely made a difference.
The question now is whether it still fulfils that original purpose, or whether it has become more symbolic than supportive.
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I haven't had the £10 for three? four? years now I think. Ever since my last PIP review, I've not received it. I know I could contact them about it, but I have enough trauma from the last DWP contact and prefer to not have the £10 than to have to deal with the worry that they're about to mangle my claim (again), so I've just left it.
I just wish I knew it was going to someone who needed it, rather than just back into DWP coffers.1 -
You have answered your own question i feel its not the pensioners who are the ones saying it should go up I also believe it should only be for state pensioners and not everyone on benefits
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Originally, the £10 Christmas Bonus was only for people in receipt of the State Pension. However, in 1972 the SA was less than £7 per week for a single person or under £11 for a couple.
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and so it should be as i stated
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Michael, thanks for your response. I don’t feel I’ve answered my own question. My point wasn’t about who should receive the bonus, but about its intended role when it was first introduced to help with the extra expenses of Christmas.
In 1972 £10 had the purchasing power of around £170 today, so it genuinely made a difference. Devaluing it year after year means it no longer works along those lines. The question now is whether £10 in 2025 still fulfils that role, or whether it has become more symbolic than supportive.
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you asked if it is still symbolic to pensioners now as it was in 1972 as a pensioner i said yes it is i cant answer for the none pensioners who receive it there views on life and money would differ
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Surely the Christmas Bonus wasn't "symbolic" to pensioners in 1972. As I said, in 1972 the State Pension was less than £7 per week for a single person or under £11 for a couple. People really looked forward to the Christmas Bonus in the seventies, possibly longer.
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Michael, you misunderstood me. I wasn’t suggesting the bonus was symbolic to pensioners. I was outlining its origins. It was introduced in 1972 to help pensioners with the extra costs of Christmas. That is a matter of record.
Over time it has rightly been extended to disabled and long‑term sick people who, like many pensioners, cannot easily earn extra income to cover those seasonal expenses.
Back then £10 had the weight of £170 in today’s money. Half a century later, does it make sense to keep it unchanged, when the administration almost certainly costs more than the payment itself?
What I want to understand is whether those who now receive the bonus, whether old or young, feel it still fulfils its original purpose of providing real help with Christmas costs, or whether it has become more symbolic than supportive.
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i did not misunderstand your post you stated pensioners i answered as a pensioner i would like to think it was intended as a thank you for contributing to the workforce for many years i very much doubt a married pension age couple both with 35 years work behind them each would care if it was stopped even if it was to raise to your claimed £170 as zipz stated the state pension has been raised from about £11 to £460 ish for a married couple per week and some of us are still expected to pay tax
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Michael, I never suggested the Christmas Bonus should rise to £170. I simply pointed out that when it was introduced in 1972, £10 had the purchasing power of around £170 today, to show how far its value has been eroded, not to argue for an uprating.
My point is whether keeping the Christmas Bonus at £10 still fulfils its original purpose of helping with Christmas costs, or whether it has become purely symbolic. And given the costs of administering it, I do wonder if it still serves any practical purpose at all.
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I am sure there are a few that need the extra tenna and are grateful for it there are some that see it as an insult and want more you can't please all the people all of the time it's a tenna buy something and give it to someone less fortunate than yourselves boost the economy and make someone smile
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Be careful Michael or you'll have the scope police on your tail for them words..I totally agree though, it's free money. But because it's only a tenner, it's not enough for some people and some people are ecstatic for receiving it. They can insult me with a free tenner anytime😂💷
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haha i have given it some thought and i will stay as i am
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£10 won’t boost the economy. If it did, the Chancellor could balance the books with loose change. The 2008 rise to £70 was genuine stimulus, £10 today is an expensive administrative gesture, not support.
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If £10 is ‘free money’, it’s the priciest freebie in Whitehall, the administration costs outweigh the payment.
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I have yet to see a chancellor manage to balance the books in my time breathing and I don't envisage one doing so until I stop
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