If Pension Credit take-up was lifted from the current uptake of 61% to 100% then almost 450,000 people could be lifted out of poverty, reducing pensioner poverty to its lowest ever level.

New research commissioned by Independent Age and conducted by Professor Donald Hirsch and Dr. Juliet Stone at the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University has found that not only would higher uptake massively reduce pensioner poverty, but that the failure to deliver Pension Credit to four in ten eligible pensioners is costing the state an estimated £4 billion a year in increased NHS and social care spending. 

As part of our Credit where it’s due campaign, we’re calling on the Government to address this issue and put in place an ambitious action plan, detailing how they will increase the uptake of Pension Credit over the next five years.