Press Release
Latest statistics show stark reality for pensioners
Monday, July 14 2008
Responding to the news that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has issued figues which show that 61% of pensioners live on incomes of less than £10,000 per year, Mervyn Kohler, Special Adviser at Help the Aged comments, "Today's ONS data show only average incomes for pensioners. Only half our workforce contribute to occupational pension schemes, and even these vary enormously in terms of performance and value.
"The other half can rely on the state pension - currently £90.70 for a single pensioner with a full contribution record - worth about £4,700 a year, or the means-tested Pension Credit which currently stands at £124.05 per week for a single pensioner with a total worth of about £7,900 a year. Income tax on single people over 65 starts at £9,030 per year.
"But the startling story in today's figures is the outcomes for pensioners. 61% of single pensioners have incomes of less than £10,000 per year. This, when the price of heating an average house is over £1000, when water bills and council taxes are rising remorselessly, and when state-provided care services are both shrinking and becoming more expensive. Older women living alone will figure predominantly in these circumstances.
"The image of older people is sometimes portrayed as rich and leisured, enjoying cruises and lengthy holidays. These figures remind us of the reality for the vast majority: life is a struggle, juggling decisions about eating, heating and keeping active. Last month's data from the Department for Work & Pensions showed 23% of our older households living below the poverty line. These figures show clearly the scanty resources they have to try to live on, successfully, in older age."
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