A pensioner is a person who receives a
pension
A pension (, from Latin ''pensiĆ'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...
, most commonly because of
retirement
Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload.
Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
from the workforce.
This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom (along with OAP, initialism of old-age pensioner), Ireland and Australia where someone of pensionable age may also be referred to as an 'old age pensioner'. In the United States, the term retiree is more common, and in New Zealand, the term superannuitant is commonly used. In many countries, increasing
life expectancy
Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...
has led to an expansion of the numbers of pensioners, and they are a growing political force.
Political parties
*
50Plus in the Netherlands
*
Dor, the Israeli Pensioners' Party
*
National Party of Retirees and Pensioners in Poland
*
Party of United Pensioners of Serbia
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature fo ...
*
Pensioners' Party
*
Norwegian Pensioners Party
*
Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party
*
Swedish Senior Citizen Interest Party
Other uses
* In the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, a pensioner is a
student
A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution.
In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementa ...
who is not a
scholar
A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or research ...
or
sizar and who pays for his or her tuition and
commons. The term
commoner may also be applied, especially at the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...
.
* A
political pensioner is a member of a formerly ruling dynasty who is paid a 'pension' (e.g. by the British raj) as a partial compensation for the income lost by not exercising an ancestral claim to a native throne.
* A
Chelsea Pensioner is a retired British soldier who lives within the Royal Hospital.
* In the
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...
breeding industry, a pensioner is a
stallion
A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded (castrated).
Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" nec ...
that has been retired from
stud duty due to declining fertility (usually related to age).
See also
*
AARP (American Association of Retired Persons)
*
Age UK
*
Elderly care
*
ProtectSeniors.Org
*
Reminiscence therapy
*
Senior citizen
Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usag ...
*
Silver surfer (internet user)
Silver surfer refers to the population of individuals over the age of 50 who utilize the internet on a consistent basis.
History
Silversurfers is the term widely used in the UK, Australia and some other English speaking countries to describe peop ...
References
External links
University of Cambridge JargonPension WatchPension watch is a comprehensive online resource on non-contributory (social) pensions.
Pensions
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