ianstone
09-30-2010, 08:24 AM
Poverty-line plight of £27 a day pensioners: Retirement income is barely enough to cover bills
By Becky Barrow (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Becky+Barrow)
Last updated at 10:44 AM on 30th September 2010
Comments (381) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1316373/Poverty-line-pensions--27-day-cover-bills.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1316373/Poverty-line-pensions--27-day-cover-bills.html)
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/30/article-1316373-0B680E39000005DC-358_233x423.jpg Rosina Cottrell: 'No holidays'
Most of Britain’s single pensioners are forced to survive on pension income of less than £27 a day, official figures revealed yesterday.
The figures highlight the nightmare facing old people whose retirement dreams are being crushed by a chronic lack of money.
As a result, record numbers are being forced to work to make ends meet, or suffer a retirement which involves constant penny-pinching just to pay the bills.
The report, from the Office for National Statistics, found 53 per cent of single pensioners receive pension income of less than £10,000 a year.
This means they are getting a maximum of £192 a week, or just £27 a day, an amount which does not even cover their bills.
‘Pension income’ includes money from their basic State pension – currently £97.65 a week – income-related benefits, such as pension credit, and private pensions, such as a company pension or a personal pension.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/30/article-1316373-0B689744000005DC-865_233x423.jpg
Joanne Segars, chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds, described the UK State pension as ‘one of the worst in Europe’.
In a further blow, the ONS warned yesterday that there are a ‘substantial group of pensioners’ who are surviving on even less.
It found 6 per cent of Britain’s 3.9million single pensioners get less than £5,000 a year, and they are mostly women, it said.
The figures, published yesterday in the ONS’s authoritative Pension Trends, revealed many pensioners have no choice but to work, or face financial ruin.
The biggest source of income for pensioner couples under the age of 75 is ‘earnings’, according to the ONS. The average pensioner couple of this age have a gross income of £602 a week – but £188 comes from working.
Overall, 31 per cent of their income comes from ‘earnings’, a larger chunk than any other source, such as their pensions or investments.
Malcolm McLean, a partner at the actuarial consultants Barnett Waddingham, said: ‘Many pensioners are scraping along just above the poverty line. They have little or no money for the luxuries of life. It is a very basic standard of living that they are enduring.’
The situation may look bleak for today’s pensioners, according to yesterday’s figures, but it is set to get even worse.
More...
Dozens of care homes are being shut down because of poor staff and treatment (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1316289/Dozens-care-homes-shut-poor-staff-treatment.html)
How to plan now for a richer retirement (http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/pensions/tips-and-guides/article.html?in_advicepage_id=96&in_article_id=505935&in_page_id=53965)
Around 65 per cent of pensioner couples and 55 per cent of single pensioners currently have a private pension, but the majority of younger people in Britain do not.
Just 43 per cent of men and 37 per cent of women have a company or a personal pension.
Miss Segars urged the Government to ‘urgently’ press ahead with plans to force all bosses to pay into a pension for their workers to improve the current crisis.
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/30/article-1316373-0B6A027D000005DC-795_468x315.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/30/article-1316373-0B6A027D000005DC-795_468x315_popup.jpg)Poverty line: A graph showing the number of pensioner households by total annual pension income in 2008/09
The new ‘Nest’ pensions will begin to be introduced in 2012, subject to the results of a review. Furthermore, pensioners are finding the income from their savings – if they have any – has been destroyed by the fact that interest rates have been slashed to the lowest level on record.
Many used to be able to use the income from their savings, but this has virtually disappeared with rates as low as 0.01 per cent.
The Bank of England’s deputy governor, Charles Bean, said this week that savers have no choice but to raid their nest egg.
Speaking to Channel 4 News, he said savers ‘shouldn’t necessarily expect’ to live off the income, adding: ‘It may make sense for them to eat into their capital a bit’.
Mr Bean said he ‘fully sympathised’ with their plight, amid predictions from economists that rates may not be raised for ‘several years’.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1316373/Poverty-line-pensions--27-day-cover-bills.html#ixzz110yzGrY6
By Becky Barrow (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Becky+Barrow)
Last updated at 10:44 AM on 30th September 2010
Comments (381) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1316373/Poverty-line-pensions--27-day-cover-bills.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1316373/Poverty-line-pensions--27-day-cover-bills.html)
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/30/article-1316373-0B680E39000005DC-358_233x423.jpg Rosina Cottrell: 'No holidays'
Most of Britain’s single pensioners are forced to survive on pension income of less than £27 a day, official figures revealed yesterday.
The figures highlight the nightmare facing old people whose retirement dreams are being crushed by a chronic lack of money.
As a result, record numbers are being forced to work to make ends meet, or suffer a retirement which involves constant penny-pinching just to pay the bills.
The report, from the Office for National Statistics, found 53 per cent of single pensioners receive pension income of less than £10,000 a year.
This means they are getting a maximum of £192 a week, or just £27 a day, an amount which does not even cover their bills.
‘Pension income’ includes money from their basic State pension – currently £97.65 a week – income-related benefits, such as pension credit, and private pensions, such as a company pension or a personal pension.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/30/article-1316373-0B689744000005DC-865_233x423.jpg
Joanne Segars, chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds, described the UK State pension as ‘one of the worst in Europe’.
In a further blow, the ONS warned yesterday that there are a ‘substantial group of pensioners’ who are surviving on even less.
It found 6 per cent of Britain’s 3.9million single pensioners get less than £5,000 a year, and they are mostly women, it said.
The figures, published yesterday in the ONS’s authoritative Pension Trends, revealed many pensioners have no choice but to work, or face financial ruin.
The biggest source of income for pensioner couples under the age of 75 is ‘earnings’, according to the ONS. The average pensioner couple of this age have a gross income of £602 a week – but £188 comes from working.
Overall, 31 per cent of their income comes from ‘earnings’, a larger chunk than any other source, such as their pensions or investments.
Malcolm McLean, a partner at the actuarial consultants Barnett Waddingham, said: ‘Many pensioners are scraping along just above the poverty line. They have little or no money for the luxuries of life. It is a very basic standard of living that they are enduring.’
The situation may look bleak for today’s pensioners, according to yesterday’s figures, but it is set to get even worse.
More...
Dozens of care homes are being shut down because of poor staff and treatment (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1316289/Dozens-care-homes-shut-poor-staff-treatment.html)
How to plan now for a richer retirement (http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/pensions/tips-and-guides/article.html?in_advicepage_id=96&in_article_id=505935&in_page_id=53965)
Around 65 per cent of pensioner couples and 55 per cent of single pensioners currently have a private pension, but the majority of younger people in Britain do not.
Just 43 per cent of men and 37 per cent of women have a company or a personal pension.
Miss Segars urged the Government to ‘urgently’ press ahead with plans to force all bosses to pay into a pension for their workers to improve the current crisis.
Enlarge http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/30/article-1316373-0B6A027D000005DC-795_468x315.jpg (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/30/article-1316373-0B6A027D000005DC-795_468x315_popup.jpg)Poverty line: A graph showing the number of pensioner households by total annual pension income in 2008/09
The new ‘Nest’ pensions will begin to be introduced in 2012, subject to the results of a review. Furthermore, pensioners are finding the income from their savings – if they have any – has been destroyed by the fact that interest rates have been slashed to the lowest level on record.
Many used to be able to use the income from their savings, but this has virtually disappeared with rates as low as 0.01 per cent.
The Bank of England’s deputy governor, Charles Bean, said this week that savers have no choice but to raid their nest egg.
Speaking to Channel 4 News, he said savers ‘shouldn’t necessarily expect’ to live off the income, adding: ‘It may make sense for them to eat into their capital a bit’.
Mr Bean said he ‘fully sympathised’ with their plight, amid predictions from economists that rates may not be raised for ‘several years’.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1316373/Poverty-line-pensions--27-day-cover-bills.html#ixzz110yzGrY6