20% of pensioners over age of 75 live in poverty in 2016

Of the 4.8 million pensioners across the UK, about 20 per cent of them, or about 950,000, live in poverty. They make anywhere from £60 to £115 less per week than other adults or younger pensioners. This income disparity makes it very difficult for them to keep up with paying their bills as well as housing costs.

Not only are a higher per cent they living in poverty, but about 25% of pensioners over the age of 75 have zero savings to their name. This means that if they are threatened with any type of unexpected expense that they will not have the money to cover it. That can lead to older pensioners having their heat shut off, maybe not be able to pay for transportation to get to a GP for a medical appointment, and many other hardships.

One of the challenges is that pensioners over the age of 75 are not applying to the safety net schemes in the UK. As but one example, about 33% of this age groups will not apply for the central government’s pension credit scheme. While the reason’s can vary, a leading reason is that they see the credit as degrading. Older people associate the scheme with not be able to provide for themselves, and they are too prideful to apply. So the sad part is they are given out many pounds in income by not applying.

There are also council welfare schemes that are being underutilized by the elderly. These programmes are local to older pensioners in the city or borough, and pensioners over the age of 75 are not applying for those benefits either. This is a dis-service to the older adults. The fact is that these welfare schemes can provide older pensioners with vouchers to obtain food, there may be grants to pay for white goods, clothing, and more support.

Housing is also a major problem. While about 25% of pensioners over the age of 75 are in poverty, this per cent increases to about 1 in 3 if they rent private housing. The cost of monthly rent is causing the older tenants to face homelessness. Or even when the elderly can keep up with their monthly housing expenses, there may be other bills such as heat that fall into arrears as a result of this.

When it comes to housing, this problem may also get worse. With the cost of rents for private housing rapidly increasing across the UK, there will be more and more older pensioners that will probably struggle in the future. This can cause more senior citizens to be evicted and maybe even needing to sleep rough.

Pensioners over the age of 75 are forced to cut back on other costs as well. Age UK reports may people going without basic necessities, such as clothing, food for meal or hygiene items. Almost 40% of pensioners are also not able to take holidays, so even though they have worked for tens of years, they can’t enjoy their older age as much as they would like to. Also, it is challenging for a pensioner to often buy food they need, and many do not turn to charities that provide support such as meals on wheels.

The solutions are difficult. Age UK is one of the UK largest charities for the elderly. They try to provide support, in partnership with charities and councils, but with over 900,000 pensioners living in poverty, the demand is too great. One easy fix is to encourage the elderly to apply for all of the benefits and local schemes they can, as there is support available for them. But until this national crisis is solved, the elderly in UK will continue to struggle.