'˜Silent generation' of older pensioners are living in poverty

Older people’s charity Independent Age examined the financial circumstances of a cohort of older people who lived through the Second Word War, using Government data to look at disparities between different groups of pensioners, and found a number of “inequalities”.

The average income of older pensioners, defined as those aged 75 plus, is £59 a week less than younger pensioners, and £112 a week less than working age adults; an estimated 950,000 (one in five) older pensioners live in poverty; within this age group 23 per cent of women, 24 per cent of single pensioners and around a quarter of private renters are living in poverty; and a quarter of those aged 75 plus have no savings at all.

The charity said that despite higher incomes from private pensions and earnings driving a rise in pensioner incomes overall in the last five years, older pensioners have missed out on many of these increases.

With lower pension income and fewer opportunities to earn, older pensioners are also more likely to experience persistent poverty over several years, the report found.

Chief executive of Independent Age, Janet Morrison said: “These findings show how misleading it is to treat all 11.8 million pensioners in this country as one group. It would be foolish to assume that inequality simply ceases to exist at retirement age, but that is exactly what some of the recent rhetoric around ‘intergenerational unfairness’ does. The Silent Generation of older pensioners, renters and single women have missed out on many of the gains of recent years.

“This is the ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ generation that lived through the Second World War. The older people we spoke to as part of this research talked about ‘keeping a brave face’, ‘cutting their cloth’ and not wanting to ask for help. There is a real risk that this generation will be forgotten and left to suffer in silence.”

The report found that nearly three quarters of a million people aged 75 people - who will not benefit from the new State Pension which came into effect in April 2016 - have no income apart from the existing State Pension and other pensioner benefits.

Older pensioners are also less likely to claim Pension Credit, with an estimated three quarters of a million over 75s who are entitled to claim failing to do so.

Independent Age is calling on the Government to increase take-up of Pension Credit among older pensioners, private renters, women and single pensioners through a targeted campaign.

Pensions minister Baroness Ros Altmann said the Government is “committed” to protecting people’s income in later life.

She said: “We have been consistently running campaigns to encourage more of those who are eligible for Pension Credit to claim it. We want to be sure that our pensioners have the money they are entitled to. I am concerned if older people feel uncomfortable about claiming and we have tried to make the process easier.”

Meanwhile, the Commons Work and Pensions Committee has warned the retirement savings of millions of workers could be at risk due to “gaps” in the system of pension regulation.

It expressed concern about the development of “potentially unstable” master trusts, which provide pension schemes for multiple employers who are unconnected.