Do you earn 80 grand?

I noticed a letter in the Herald yesterday from a Dr Ian McKee. The name seemed familiar and then I remembered that a gentleman of that name was SNP candidate in my constituency at the last Scottish parliamentary elections. He remains an SNP candidate.

Dr McKee was writing about the pension crisis that has been in the news so much this week.

According to the good doctor:

"... the state pension was over 20% of average earnings in the eighties but has now fallen to little more than 5%."

The state pension is close to £4,000 PA. That would mean that "average earnings" are around £80,000. Somehow I don't think so. Then I had a look at the chart in Wednesday's Herald. The 5% figure is a forecast for the year 2060 or thereabouts. Presumably the paper is expecting a continuation of growth in earnings ahead of increases in the state pension. The chart actually shows that the state pension is around 15% of average earnings at the present time, not 5%. That fits in with an average wage of something like £26,000 - a bit nearer the mark than £80K!

If politicians want to gain a bit more respect it would help if they had a basic understanding of facts and figures.