“Poverty in retirement should not be considered an inevitability.” (Image: Getty/Mathew Horwood)
As many as one in four of the nation’s 12.5m elderly people will be left without their financial ‘safety net’ by the time spring comes around next year.
Most worrying of all, 10 per cent of pensioners do not have a nest egg to fall back on as they face rising energy and food costs, according to the charity Independent Age.
And with 2.1m vulnerable old people already living in poverty, there are warnings that the number will increase.
Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of older people had to use savings last year leaving them even less able to cope this winter.
Joanna Elson CBE, chief executive of Independent Age, said: “We’ve heard from people who sleep in coats and hats because they can’t afford to turn the heating on.
“We also hear from people who had worked all their lives and done their best to save yet were reaching out for help for the first time as the financial strain became too much.
“This upcoming winter has the potential to be even more challenging as we know many older people were forced to deplete their savings last year just to get by.
“Without this safety net to fall back on, many more older people may be forced into making drastic, and in some cases, dangerous cutbacks because they don’t have enough money to cover the essentials.
“For others, it could mean they fall into poverty, which is a very worrying prospect.”
Household energy prices will rise in January for 29m households putting more financial pressure on billpayers at the coldest time of year.
Earlier this week, energy regulator Ofgem said the typical annual household bill would go up from £1,834 to £1,928, a rise of £94 or five per cent.
It said the rise in bills would be “worrying” at a difficult time for many people but was the result of higher wholesale costs faced by suppliers.
Meanwhile official figures show inflation in food and drink prices peaked at an annual rate of almost 20 per cent earlier this year – the highest level since the 1970s.
Although the rate has dropped in recent months, it remains at a historical high of almost 10 per cent.
Meanwhile, another report from the Centre for Ageing Better (CAB) found both the current generations of retirees and those heading towards retirement experiencing significant and growing financial difficulties.
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The average annual income of the poorest 20 per cent of retired individuals is below the minimum amount needed to live on.
This means that the country’s poorest retirees, including those solely reliant on the state pension, have an annual income estimated to leave just £41 for a weekly food shop and insufficient funds to run their own car or service their boiler.
And more than one million pensioners have no savings, researchers uncovered.
The CAB backs the Daily Express campaign for a Minister for Older people to ensure that pensioners get a fair deal.
Dr Carole Easton OBE, chief executive at the Centre for Ageing Better, said: “Not only is the cost-of-living crisis causing many current pensioners to cut back on food, heating, showers and going to the dentist; it is significantly limiting the ability of the next generations of pensioners from paying into their pensions and savings, potentially creating the conditions for greater pensioner poverty in the future.
“This is why we are calling for a Commissioner for Older People and Ageing to ensure that policymakers are planning for our ageing population and considering the needs of the poorest and most disadvantaged older people, both among the current retired generation and future generations of retirees.
“Poverty in retirement should not be considered an inevitability.”
The Independent Age polling of 2, 252 pensioners aged 65-plus laid bare the anxiety felt by many.
More than a third (35 per cent) are worried about their financial situation with soaring energy bills being an overwhelming concern for 82 per cent, followed by council tax at 34 per cent, food prices at 33 per cent, household repairs at 31 per cent and medical costs cited by 17 per cent.
Yet 24 per cent of all pensioners have no savings and a further 19 per cent have less than £5,000
Among the poorest fifth of pensioners, 40 per cent have no nest egg with 24 per cent having less than £5,000 to fall back on.
