In response to the Department for Work and Pensions statistics relating to households below average income, income-related benefits and pensioners’ incomes series, Janet Morrison, Chief Executive of Independent Age, said:
“These figures rebut the absurd notion that all pensioners are wealthy and financially worry-free. Pensioner poverty remains a significant and widespread problem in the UK, with 1 in 7 pensioner households living in poverty. For them, the reality is not foreign holidays but finding the cheapest food and managing to keep the heating on in winter. While income levels for some pensioners have increased in recent years, and the overall rate of poverty has declined slightly, this is no comfort whatsoever to the many who still struggle to get by. Pensioners who are single or above the age of 85 are particularly vulnerable. Worryingly, take-up of pension credit, which raises the state pension to above the poverty line, has not increased recently and one third of pensioners who are eligible for it are not claiming it.”