Poverty and 'the silent generation' - new research destroys wealthy pensioner myth
Research conducted by the charity Independent Age shows vast inequalities among pensioners, with 950,000 over-75s living below the poverty line.
We’ve all heard of the term intergenerational unfairness. Young people today are for the first time predicted to be worse off than their parents; wages remain stagnant, and yet – the narrative goes - wealthy pensioners take both resources and opportunities away from the younger generation.
In January MPs launched an inquiry into the phenomenon, to question whether universal benefits, such as the fuel allowance, or the ‘triple lock’ on state pensions are making generational disparity even worse.
Yet according to Independent Age, the older people’s charity, such misleading rhetoric is already having devastating consequences for the UK’s most elderly, the so-called ‘Silent Generation.’
“That mythic agenda is taking hold,” said Independent Age chief executive Janet Morrison. “If you’re talking about everyone over 65 as one homogenous group then you’re missing the nuances of inequality within that cohort.”
A shocking report, released today by the older people’s charity reveals vast inequalities among UK pensioners. Those over 75, are thousands of pounds a year worse off than younger pensioners - an average of £59 per week less - and are far more likely to live in persistent poverty. A quarter of this group have no savings at all.
“The report shows there are huge variations in circumstances amongst older people,” Morrison added. “So blunt instruments that are designed to tackle intergenerational unfairness - dismantling a system of pensioner benefits or the triple lock on the state pension - will also impact on those people who we’ve all seen, when standing behind them in the supermarket queue, who are buying very, very small supplies of food, and are living in fear of their next bill.”
More than a third of the UK’s 11.8 million pensioners are over 75, and even with the current level of available benefits, the report finds that an estimated 950,000 (20%) pensioners in this age group live in poverty.
Morrison explained that a large reason for the inequality among pensioners is because the ‘silent generation,’ those who lived through the rationing of the war and the austerity of the 1950s, may not be inclined to make their voice heard.
“It’s a silent generation in that they’ve demanded very little from the state; they’ve expected to conform to society to give, and to not demand much back. When we talk to over 75s they say: ‘there’s people much worse off than me’ or ‘I mustn’t grumble. So they ‘make do and mend’ by scrimping with their state pension.”
Over 75’s are far less likely to have had the opportunity to secure high pay, invested in a second state pension or make private pension provision than the baby boomer generation who followed them.
While the baby-boomers have seen private pension incomes increase in the last decade, around 750,000 over 75’s rely solely on the state pension and other benefits. But due to the timing of policy changes, they typically did not have the opportunity to make additional national insurance contributions and build up a second state pension, so even this may be much less that their younger counterparts.
Women over 75 are particularly badly affected, having not had the same opportunities to participate in the work force and experiencing a greater gender pay gap when they did. While being older they’re also more likely to be bereaved and living alone. Older people who rent are similarly at risk.
Those with lower pensions are eligible for Pensions Credit, which will top up their income up to £155 per week. However, research also reveals that an estimated 39% of this group don’t claim this allowance because they don’t even know it exists, and there is currently insufficient governmental effort to raise awareness of the Credit.
“The Government estimates that overall there’s around 1.3 million people who are probably entitled to Pensions Credit who are not claiming it, and that’s been a pretty stubborn number that’s been around for a long time,” said Morrison.
“It’s very disappointing that we know that people are living below the poverty line, and the government knows they are as well.”
Increasing the uptake of Pensions Credit would go a long way to alleviating the persistent poverty replete among the silent generation, but also a worry for Morrison is the threat of cuts to basic pensioner benefits - such as winter fuel allowance and free bus passes - in an attempt to tackle inter-generational unfairness. This will be compounded further in 2020 when the triple lock on state pension, which ensures it rises with the rising cost of living, expires.
“It’s about challenging this myth of intergenerational unfairness,” Morrison concluded. “If we start dismantling some of those safeguards and don’t replace them with anything targeted on those with most need, you’re actually going to make the situation much worse, and roll back the clock on pensioner poverty with seriously detrimental effects.”
