Yes and being a "benefit" rather that a right gives the Government the right to alter it, like means testing, which they said they will never do but then who trusts them, and to spy on out bank account usage. What is called is irrelevant. Why it has to be called a "benefit" just because it is administered by the DWP is BS. By any definition it is not a benefit. I paid into a private pension just the same. That is not a benefit. I pay for car and house insurance that it not a benefit.