No, the U.K. does not have the lowest pension or minimum wage in Europe

What's the claim?

Facebook posts falsely claim that the U.K. has not only the highest retirement age in the world but also the lowest pensions and longest working hours in Europe. They also claim that the U.K. has the lowest minimum wages, highest energy costs, and lowest taxes for the richest. Archive links to the posts can be found here and here. 

Screenshot of a Facebook post claiming that the United Kingdom has the worst retirement ages, pensions, working hours, energy costs, etc. (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, our research found that the points mentioned in the claims made in these posts are false, except for the claim about the biggest profits for the rich, for which there is no metric to measure.

Highest retirement age in the world

The state pension age for both men and women is currently set at 66 in the United Kingdom. According to the Pensions Act 2014, the State Pension age for men and women is set to increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028. However, as of 2024, Iceland, Israel (for men), Norway, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands all have their general retirement ages at 67, meaning that the U.K. does not have the highest retirement age in the world.

Lowest pensions in Europe

Our research found that the U.K. does not have the lowest pensions in Europe. The 2024 European Pension Breakdown Index by U.K.-based financial advisers Almond Financial collated the pensions of European countries and compared them with the cost of living of that particular country. 

As of 2024, in terms of pension paid out to retirees, the U.K. ranked 15th in their list, with a maximum monthly pension payment of £958.53, and a minimum of £885 according to the new state pension plan, higher than the average monthly cost of living in the country. According to the list, the country with the lowest pension in Europe is Armenia, at £74.20 per month, followed by Moldova, Georgia, and Russia at £103.36, £109.06, and £165.35 per month respectively. The country with the highest pension in Europe is Luxembourg, at €6,156.09 (£5201.88) per month.

Longest working hours in Europe

According to the U.K.'s Office for National Statistics (ONS), the current average actual working hours per week for full-time workers in the country is 36.6 hours as of July 2024. According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, which publishes Europe-wide statistics and indicators, the average working week in the European Union was around 36.1 hours in 2023. According to data from Eurostat, the countries with the highest working hours were recorded to be Greece (39.8 hours), Romania (39.5 hours), Poland (39.3 hours), and Bulgaria (39 hours). Therefore, the U.K. does not have the highest working hours in Europe.

Lowest minimum wages 

The social media posts claim that the U.K. also has the lowest minimum wages without specifying whether they mean in the world or Europe. However, our research shows that U.K.'s minimum wages is not the lowest in either comparison.

According to Eurostat, minimum wages in Europe ranged from €477 (£403) per month in Bulgaria, the lowest, to €2,571 (£2,172.12) per month in Luxembourg, the highest. Compared to this, the adult (21 and above) minimum wage in the U.K. is £11.44 per hour. For full time employment, this would come out to be around £1,600 per month, much higher than the lowest minimum wage in Europe. The European countries that compare to the U.K. are Germany at around £1,685 a month and France at £1,474 per month.

Highest energy costs

According to the Energy Price Index's August 2024 analysis, the country with the highest electricity end-user prices in Europe is Germany with electricity costing 39.29 Eurocent/kWh. The U.K. is fourth highest in Europe, at 34.85 Eurocent/kWh. Both Czechia and the Republic of Ireland also rank higher than the U.K. at 37.5 Eurocent/kWh and 36.03 Eurocent/kWh respectively. 

Similarly, according to an April 2024 report by Eurostat, in the second half of 2023, electricity prices in the European Union were the highest in Germany (40.20 Eurocent/KWh), Ireland (37.94 Eurocent/KWh), Belgium (37.78 Eurocent/KWh) and Denmark (35.54 Eurocent/KWh). It may be noted here that in the same period, the U.K. had a higher cost of electricity than all 27 EU nations for the first time since 1998, owing to the energy crisis. However, prices have gone down since then. 

From October 1 to December 31, 2024, the U.K. will have an electricity price cap of 24.50 pence/kWh (29 Euro cents/kWh). Meanwhile, the latest price change in electricity tariffs in Ireland, applicable from November 1, 2024, is 31.88 Euro cents/kWh. Therefore, the U.K. does not have the highest electricity prices.

Lowest taxes for the rich

Most countries in Europe have a progressive tax structure, including the U.K. This means that the percentage taxed on income changes as the income gets higher. According to international research think tank Tax Foundation, the country with the highest tax rate for the highest income bracket in Europe as of 2023 is Denmark at 55.9 percent, while Austria sits at 55 percent. According to the list, the lowest tax rate is in Bulgaria and Romania, at 10 percent, followed by Moldova (12 percent), Ukraine (19.5 percent), and Georgia (20 percent). 

According to a report by Euronews, some of the countries with the highest tax rates in Europe are Denmark (55.9 percent), Austria (55 percent), Portugal (53 percent), Sweden (52.3 percent) and Belgium (50 percent). The report notes that Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and North Macedonia are the European countries with the lowest taxes, with a 10 percent tax rate.

Great Britain, meanwhile, has a 45 percent tax, comparable to France and Germany's 45 percent rate, as per the Euronews report. Meanwhile, Switzerland has a 36 percent tax, Spain has 47 percent, Luxembourg has 42 percent, Ireland has 40 percent, and Italy has 43 percent. This clearly shows that the U.K. does not have the lowest taxes "for the rich" in Europe.

While the post also claims that the U.K. has the "biggest profits" for the rich, there are no statistics or metric to calculate this.

The verdict

The U.K. does not have the highest retirement age in the world, the lowest pensions, the longest working hours, the highest energy costs, or the lowest taxes for the rich in Europe. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.