[ExI] Change of thought (was Just curious, it's not natural!)

[BillK]

On 9/5/07, spike wrote:
> PJ, the ripoffs I was describing have little or nothing to do with gay or
> straight, so the actual number of gay couples is irrelevant.  The
> grandmother who marries her grandson's girlfriend is presumed straight.  She
> goes into a fake marriage to provide her new spouse (and presumably her
> grandson) with a pension that lasts their lifetimes.
>
> These sorts of scams could occur already, but perhaps allowing gay marriage
> would double the opportunities, or possibly more than double them.  Consider
> for instance that an elderly woman would likely feel more comfortable with a
> young woman living in her home than she would with a young man.  If grandma
> entered the arrangement in exchange for the young woman providing elderly
> care, then both women benefit.  Society pays dearly.  You and I pay for
> that.  When we need that social security, it might be bankrupt for paying
> off our younger fellow citizens who married an elderly (and long since
> perished) person in their 20s.
>

I don't think this rip-off exists.

In the UK, the state pension is commonly called the 'old-age pension'.
You don't get it if you are under pension age. And you have to have
built up credits during your working life to get the full state
pension, otherwise you get a reduced pension.  Marriage doesn't come
into it.

Except that if a wife has never worked, then when she reaches pension
age, she can claim some pension based on her husband's working
credits.

The actual rules are horrifyingly complex. And if you only get a small
pension, then you enter the labyrinthine system of claiming some of
the thousands of supplementary benefits, all with complex rules. And
some of the benefits clash with other benefits, so you have to find
the best path for your circumstances.

And there is an ongoing process of changing the rules and benefits
constantly, just to keep the claimants on their toes.

BillK