Retirement idea of retirement is of recent origin, being introduced during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Previously, low life expectancy and the absence of pension arrangements meant that most workers continued to work until death. Germany was the first country to introduce retirement benefits in 1889. Nowadays, most developed countries have systems to provide pensions on retirement in old age, which may be sponsored by employers or the state. In many poorer countries, support for the old is still mainly provided through the family. Today, retirement with a pension is considered a right of the worker in many societies,
First MacDonald ministry clause, by which applicants had to prove that they were actively seeking work, was introduced, a move that the government saw as a means of preventing abuse but drew criticism from within the Labour movement. For pensioners, increases were made in both old-age pensions and the pensions of ex-servicemen and of their widows and children. Improvements were made in the condition of old-age pensioners by allowing small incomes from savings to be disregarded in calculating the pension due. As a result of this change, 60,000 elderly people, whose meagre savings had previously reduced their pension entitlement, received the full state