State pensioners could get another huge increase to their payments in April with total payments increasing almost 20 percent in two years.
Pensioners are set to get an 8.5 percent boost to the current payment rates in line with the triple lock, increasing the full new state pension from the current £203.85 a week to £221.20 a week.
This would represent a 19.5 percent increase compared to the previous tax year, when the full new state pension was £185.15 a week.
The sizable yearly increases have raised concerns the triple lock could soon become unsustainable for Government finances.
Lord William Hague warned recently the triple lock is becoming a “runaway train” and is placing an unfair burden on younger generations.
Steve Webb, partner at LCP, warned there is a political stalemate which is preventing action on the triple lock.
He explained: “There is no doubt that the present Government and opposition would both like to drop the policy in order to make savings to be spent elsewhere.
“But both want to avoid a situation where they have moved first by dropping the triple lock only to find that the other party has retained it”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak committed earlier this year to retaining the triple lock pledge for next year’s increase.
But the Government is reported to be considering tweaking the average earnings metric, which is set to be the figure that will decide how much payments go up next April.
Finance ministers are said to be looking at using the average earnings figure without including bonuses, which would reduce the payment increase from 8.5 percent to 7.8 percent.
Edmund Greaves, co-editor of personal finance blog Mouthy Money, told Express.co.uk previously the triple lock is “patently unsustainable”.
He said: “While there are certainly many pensioners reliant on the payments for their day-to-day living, the vast majority have accrued decent levels of wealth over a lifetime.
“This leaves us in the toxic situation where younger working age people, who are generally worse off than pensioners, are paying for older people’s retirements without being able to save adequately for their own.”
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