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Britain's 'mean' state pension vs other countries

By Daniel Martin for the Daily Mail
Updated: 08:27 EDT, 24 March 2011

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Britain's state pension is among the meanest in the developed world, a study has found.

Pensioner getting warmed by her gas fire

The level of payments is lower than that in all but three other developed nations - and Britons face having to wait longer than people in any other industrialised country before they can retire.

The study, published today, lays bare the extent to which Britons have to rely on occupational and private pensions. It shows that pensioners in the UK only get state payments worth 41.5% of average after-tax earnings.

That is far lower than Spain and Italy, where the state pension is worth 84.9 and 75.3% of average earnings respectively.

It is even worse than the US, which has one of the least generous welfare systems. The state pension there is worth 50% of average earnings. In France it is 60.4% and in Germany 57.9%.

The world's most generous pensions are found in Greece, whose economy imploded thanks to its high public spending. A pensioner there gets more than average earnings, at 111.2%.

The study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which represents 34 industrialised nations, found only Mexico (32.2% of average earnings), Ireland (35.8%) and Japan (39.7%) have lower state pensions than the UK.

The basic state pension in the UK for a single person is £97.65 a week but some get more through pension credit and the additional state pension.

Pensions expert Dr Ros Altmann, of Saga, said: 'Britain's state pensions system is a disgrace - the meanest and most complex in the developed world. We have moved from a system which was the envy of the world to one which is falling apart.'

More than half of OECD members are reacting to financial problems and an ageing population by upping the retirement age. But the report shows that by 2050, the UK's will be the highest in the world.

Britons will have to wait until 68 to get their pensions. Americans and Germans will receive theirs at 67, the Irish and Italians at 65, and the French at 62.

The late pension age and different life expectancies mean Britons will get to spend the fewest years in retirement of any industrialised country bar Hungary.

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