Old and in poverty


Nearly one million people over the age of 75 are living in poverty in Britain, a charity has warned.


Hundreds of thousands are in a “poverty trap” with little hope of escape in their lifetimes, according to a new report by the charity Independent Age.


Its research found many older pensioners are worse off than their younger counterparts by thousands of pounds a year on average, leaving one in five of over-75s living below the poverty line.


Janet Morrison, chief executive of Independent Age, said it was “misleading” to treat the country’s 11.8 million pensioners as one group.


The report recommends that:


• the government and other key agencies re-energise their efforts to promote the take-up of Pension Credit and other benefits to the groups of older people most at risk of living in poverty — in particular single older people, older women and older renters;


• the government should introduce a “triple lock” on Pension Credit to guarantee that recipients of the “old” State Pension do not suffer a relative decline in their state income;


• the government should ensure that lower income pensioners continue to receive vital universal benefits like the Winter Fuel Payment and the free bus pass; and


• the government should guarantee that proposed reforms to Attendance Allowance will not introduce a means test, and will not result in reduced incomes for older people.


www.independentage.org/campaigning/policy-and-research/research-reports