Pensions Goth Blog – Daniela Silcock Pensions Research

Benefits, Disability

We keep missing the PIP shaped elephant in the debate

You don’t have to look far to find accounts from disability benefit claimants who say their evidence has been misunderstood, minimised, or recorded in a way they don’t recognise. The Work and Pensions Committee has raised concerns about PIP assessments and the way contractors and processes can shape…
ESG, Nature, Water

I talk to a real scientist about water!

Pensions Goth speaks to Dr Izzy Bishop, a freshwater scientist from University College London whose work focuses on water quality, pollution, and ecosystem resilience, about why water risk matters for infrastructure, and long-term investment. Pensions Goth: I want to start at the beginning. Not with regulation or climate…
Benefits, Carers, Gender, Women

Policy doesn’t reflect gendered experiences

There’s a current mismatch between policy, practice and how pension outcomes are determined. New State Pension entitlement is built from individual NI records and, in most cases, people can’t build entitlement from a spouse as under the previous system. Workplace pensions have shifted. In DB, dependent support is…
Inflation, State Pension, Triple lock

State Pension, inflation, and the timing lag

The State Pension increases annually in April. The size of the increase is decided using measures from the previous year under the triple lock, the highest of: For 2026 to 2027, the new State Pension will increase by 4.8%, in line with average earnings growth for May to…
State Pension, State Pension age, Triple lock

We can’t debate costs till we determine meaning

This FT article on European state pensions describes rising costs, ageing populations and repeated political failure. But I think we need to dig a little deeper and reflect on the original purpose of the system before contemplating change. State pensions were created to prevent poverty in old age and…
ESG, Investment, Modern slavery, Private pensions, Regulation, Responsible investment

Let’s start the New Year thinking about modern slavery

I know there’s a lot going on for all of us, and the world, at the moment, but I think it’s worth returning to this topic. Modern slavery remains widespread and deeply embedded in global supply chains. The International Labour Organisation estimates that around 49 million people are…

Pensions Goth loves to explain what’s going on in pensions, what Government, industry and regulators are up to and what changes might mean for members. Pensions Goth loves cats, heavy metal music and is passionate about the truth, data and making sense of pensions.

She also tweets as #Pensions_Goth and you can find her on blue sky at @pensionsgoth.bsky.social

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Welcome to Pensions Goth Blog

Blog categories

We keep missing the PIP shaped elephant in the debate

I talk to a real scientist about water!

Policy doesn’t reflect gendered experiences

State Pension, inflation, and the timing lag

We can’t debate costs till we determine meaning

Let’s start the New Year thinking about modern slavery