Media centre

Pensioners are being forced to live ‘just above the breadline’‚ with inflation-busting bills leaving them with little money to enjoy retirement‚ according to a new report by Age Concern. The charity is warning that thousands of older people are missing out on a decent quality of life‚ which could be putting them at risk of isolation and depression in later life.

Published today‚ ‘Just above the breadline: living on a low income’ reveals that many older people are denied the simple pleasures that most people take for granted.1

New findings also show that 40% of over 65s feel that their social life is restricted by a lack of money‚ with just over a third (35%) admitting they cannot afford to spend a day out with friends or family and one in three (33%) saying they cannot afford to go out for a meal‚ enjoy a night at the pub with friends‚ or entertain friends or family at home. Even pursuing a hobby or leisure activity is out of the question for just under a third (29%) and a whopping 41% say a holiday is simply unaffordable.2

“It does feel like you are a second-class citizen. I mean‚ you get barely enough to live on. When you become a pensioner‚ you’re not supposed to enjoy yourself or go out or have a holiday or anything. This is the way you are treated.” 3

“Because you can’t go to pubs and places like that then you miss out on the social life.”

“I wouldn’t say it was good‚ but we do manage. It’s not on a higher level where you can afford holidays abroad twice a year which to me is good living. It’s just above the breadline.”

The report‚ the result of a number of focus groups‚ paints a stark picture of what it is like to be a pensioner living on a low income in today’s society. Strategies used by older people buying essential items on a limited budget include: heating just one room rather than the whole house‚ buying economy food and items near their sell-by date‚ and buying second-hand clothes from car-boot sales. Holidays are out of the question for the majority‚ as are trips to the hairdressers and other social events enjoyed pre-retirement such as the cinema or a football match.

“I’d like for once to go to a shop and buy something. All what I’ve got on I’ve bought from the car boot sale.”

“If you go to the supermarkets‚ particularly on a Sunday‚ if you go down about 3pm – they shut at 4 so start reducing their stuff. We’ve had meat that costs £4 or £5 for sometimes as little as 50p because of their sell-by date.”

Despite this‚ most felt they “could get by” on their income and cover essential costs; and the Winter Fuel Allowance was widely praised. But although pensioner poverty has reduced since 1997‚ one in five pensioners - two million people - is still living below the breadline and millions more are worrying about meeting their escalating bills. Age Concern is today calling on the Government to make sure that the needs of today’s pensioners are not overlooked during the course of the National Pensions Debate.4

Age Concern’s Director-General‚ Gordon Lishman‚ said: “It’s appalling that so many older people face a daily struggle to make ends meet and are being forced to sacrifice simple pleasures to afford their rapidly rising bills.

“There is no question that radical pensions reform is desperately needed to prevent future generations facing the same fate in retirement. But the plight of today’s pensioners must not be overlooked in the midst of the pensions debate.

“The Government’s own figures show that one in five older people are shut out from society.5 At the very least‚ the Government should introduce a higher basic state pension of £109 per week which rises above inflation‚ reduces the need for means-testing and gives pensioners enough money to afford a decent standard of living.”

The charity is warning that without decisive Government action‚ public faith in pensions will remain low‚ the current savings crisis will spiral out of control and the value of the basic state pension will continue to decline: a disaster for both today’s and tomorrow’s pensioners.

-Ends-
pr/10.03.03.06/hw

Notes to editors
1  Age Concern commissioned IFF Research Limited to carry out qualitative research with older people who are living on a low income. The research took the form of four qualitative focus groups and 8 in-depth interviews with older people living on a low income in October 2005. In total 34 people aged 65 to 91 were included. The report was jointly written by IFF Research and Age Concern. IFF Research specialises in bespoke high quality quantitative and qualitative research. Further information at www.iffresearch.com.

2 ICM interviewed a random sample of 510 adults aged 65+ by telephone across the country between 17th and 27th February 2006.  ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Further information at www.icmresearch.co.uk.

3  Comments made by individuals who took part in the qualitative research.

4  The National Pensions Debate is being run by the Department for Work and Pensions and is a public consultation on the options for pensions reform as set out by the Pensions Commission in November 2005. Further information at www.dwp.gov.uk/debate.

5 Social Exclusion Unit (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister)‚ A Sure Start to later life‚ January 2006.

• A PDF of the report is attached. For a hard copy‚ further information‚ or to arrange an interview‚ please contact Helen Wanless on Tel: 020 8765 7514 or Email: helen.wanless@ace.org.uk.
• Age Concern spokespeople and case studies are available for interview. Please contact Helen in the media team (contact details as above).
• Radio producers: Age Concern has an ISDN facility 

Additional comments from research participants

Going on holiday
“I don’t drink‚ I don’t smoke‚ and neither does my husband.  I never go on holiday‚ I can’t afford to go on holiday‚ so where’s our quality of life?”

“I’m not starving but I still can’t afford to go on holiday.  Our money does go on food‚ heating bills‚ electricity‚ and our telephone‚ which is vital.  We can live.”

Going out
“I’d like to go to the theatre but I can’t afford to go… Anything a bit out of the ordinary is something you can’t afford to do. And you see it in the paper‚ visit here and there but you can’t afford to go.”

“I want to be my own person and do my own thing when I choose rather than arrange it weeks ahead. Your independence is really curtailed. I would like to go across town to a decent pub I know there where I can rub shoulders with all kinds of people. Maybe meet people I haven’t seen for years and just pay my own way and get home safely. And that’s out of the question.”

“Everything is on in the evenings and at weekends‚ I see it all in the papers. I would love to go to some of that but you can’t get there. There’s no transport and even if there was you would get dropped off too far from your home. You daren’t walk alone in the dark.”

Heating
“You don’t have to have the heating on the same amount in all rooms do you? When you’ve got a family‚ you need it on in all rooms but as long as you can afford to keep one room warm then that’s all that I think is important.”

“[The Winter Fuel Allowance] is a godsend‚ it really is‚ because we can have our heating on now where as before you had it on in the mornings then it went off and you had to wait until the evenings. But now we can have it on more when it’s really cold. My husband feels the cold dreadfully.”

Money worries
“Money is a worry yes. It’s health and money together are the two main things and then how the family are getting on. Those are the three anxieties.”

“Well my pension goes in the bank and I just have to keep checking that I haven’t spent too much. And then if I’ve overspent I just have to cut right down.”

“It’s really just a day-to-day existence. You can’t save up for anything.”

Help with bills
“I think it’s got better because the fuel allowance is a big help.  You're not frightened now to put your heating on.” 

Cost of living
“I think we have a bit more money in our pockets but the cost of living has gone up so much that that money is not buying as much as it used to… you have got to count the pennies.” 

“You have more money but it’s costing more to live…”

Media contact:

Helen Wanless
Media Team

Telephone:
020 8765 7514
Out of hours:
07071 243 243
Email:
media@ace.org.uk