Pensioners have been urged to claim pension credit to combat poverty, with Black and Asian older people most at risk. The number of pensioners in poverty has now passed the two million mark,with Black and Asian older people most at risk of struggling financially in later life, warns the Charity Age UK, as it urges any older person who feels financially hard-pressed to check their eligibility for Pension Credit.
The Charity is working to encourage pensioners on low incomes to see if they can receive a Pension Credit top-up, and boost uptake of a benefit that can typically take an older person who receives it above the poverty line. Being found to be eligible for Pension Credit also acts as a gateway to some other benefits, potentially transforming an older person’s standard of living.
Since 2013/14, the number of pensioners in poverty has risen by almost a third (31 per cent) from 1.6 million. Official figures show that a third of Asian older people (33 per cent) and just under a third of Black older people (30 percent) in the UK live below the poverty line, compared to 16 percent of White older people. The over-85s, renters, and single, female pensioners, are also at greater risk of poverty than the older population as a whole. The total number of older people living in poverty in the UK now stands at 2.1 million.
Despite these high numbers and recent government figures showing that nearly a million older people could not afford an unexpected bill of £200, nearly a million (920,000) pensioner households are missing out on Pension Credit payments worth up to £1.6 billion every year – that’s an average of £32 a week, or over £1,600 a year, per recipient.
Any older person who is worried about money and/ or who may be entitled to claim benefits should contact Age UK by calling its national advice line free of charge on 0800 169 65 65 (8am-7pm), visiting www.ageuk.org.uk/money or contacting their local Age UK for free information and advice.
To make a claim, people should call the Pension Credit claim line on 0800 99 1234 or visit www.gov.uk/pension-credit/how-to-claim.
