people over 70 with an annual income of £21 to £31 would receive a pension (1 to 5 shillings per week)
by 1914, 1 million people were receiving a pension
The limitations of this were:
many pensioners had no birth certificate to prove their age
those who earned over £31 did not receive anything
the pension was not enough to survive on as it was below the poverty line established by Booth and Rowntree
many died from hardship before they reached 70 years of age
Pensions were only provided if people:
were British and had lived in the UK for 20 years
had not been imprisoned in the last ten years
had not avoided work
had avoided detention under the The Inebriates Act (1898)Laws against public drunkenness that meant people could be arrested, have property confiscated and were classed ineligible for certain state benefits. in the last ten years