Press Release

Pensioners' cost of living going 'through the roof'

Tuesday, August 12 2008

Reacting to Consumer Price Index figures released today which show inflation at 4.4 per cent, Kate Jopling, Head of Public Affairs at Help the Aged, says: "The cost of living for pensioners is going through the roof.

"On a fixed income with little hope of pulling themselves out of financial difficulty, many are forced to cut back further and further, watching their quality of life deteriorate before their very eyes.

"The true rate of inflation for those on the lowest incomes is likely to be much higher than the figures released today. Older people spend more of their money on the very items which are going up the most.

"2.5 million pensioners already live in poverty and 1.4 million live in deep poverty. It is high time the Government took the bull by the horns and ensured older people get all the benefits they are entitled to - more than £5 billion goes unclaimed each year, lining the pockets of the Treasury instead of helping the older people who need it just to get by. 

"The Government has known for a while that automatic payment of benefits could lift a huge number of older people out of poverty – what is needed now is the political will to make it happen."