UK elderly struggle as severe poverty rates rise
A new report has revealed a worrying rise in the number of elderly people living in 'severe poverty'.
The proportion of elderly people living in severe poverty in the UK has gone from one of the lowest in western Europe to one of the highest in the last 30 years, according to a new report.
The Pension Reforms and Old Age Inequalities in Europe study found that, in 2015/16, one in 20 (5%) elderly Brits were forced to live on an income that was less than 40% of the UK median average income.
This compared to just one in 100 back in 1984/85.
The biggest cause for the declining standard of living was the State Pension system, low basic payments and means-tested supplements, explained Professor Bernhard Ebbinghaus, author of the report.
Read: everything you need to know about pensions
‘Basic security and meagre pensions’
The data revealed that, in the mid-1980s, the UK had one of the lowest rates of elderly poverty rates out of 16 western European countries analysed.
This proportion jumped to around 6% by 2007/2008, with poverty rates for the over 65s among the highest in western Europe.
While this dipped to just under 5% over the following eight years, it remains among the worst performers.
“The lowest poverty rates are found in the relatively generous Dutch and Danish basic pensions,” Ebbinghaus said in the report.
“In contrast, Ireland, the UK and Switzerland, with basic security and Belgium, Greece, Italy and Spain, as well as Slovenia, with meagre pensions, have the highest poverty rates, coming close to US levels."
How to boost your income in retirement
If you are struggling to make ends meet in retirement, the first thing to do is make sure you're claiming all help and benefits that you qualify for.
If this still doesn't bridge the gap, you need to look at what steps you can take to boost your income.
From downsizing to going back to work, we've put together a list of your options in this guide.
State Pension: 5 mistakes that impact how much you get paid
Do you think today's elderly are worse off than previous generations? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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The financial strain on elderly owner occupiers is certainly an issue, particularly for those in lower value homes, where asset release is rarely an option, and it also depends upon pursuit of support entitlement. To illustrate the point, M-in-L referred to earlier, before entering residential care at 99, was receiving something over £21K per year from state pensions, housing, council tax and other benefits, all with no HMRC deductions.
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I know several old people who are on the poverty line and I try and help. RMN05 don’t we all get the NHS for free? OAPs paid NI contributions all their working lives like everyone else. As an OAP if you have a house, you are probably not entitled to benefits, asset rich, cash poor. It means that some older people are living on around ten thousand a year. The ones who are supposed to be so well off is because they saved during their working lives.
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But they've 'worked hard all their lives' so how can this be? It's almost as if they've spent pretty much everything, put nothing aside and just assumed that when the time comes it'll be someone else's problem. But @The Democrat has the idea; we should set up an Australian-style superannuation scheme (a type of state run personal pension) so that unlike the Boomer generation we don't leave the country up to it's eyeballs in debt whilst also having nothing saved, expecting later generations to pay not only for our national debt but also our pensions. And @RMN05's comment is interesting. I've met people about this age and they tend to save & thrift like mad and even though they're getting a lower pension than the generation that succeeded them (the Boomers) they don't complain, they only worry about their grandkids.
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26 August 2019