Press Release

Pensioners face sky-rocketing inflation, says Help the Aged

9 October 2008

Reacting to research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) which shows that recent high inflation has affected pensioner households more severely than non-pensioners, Louise Ward-Bergeman, Incomes Policy Officer for Help the Aged, says:

“It’s incredibly useful to have research showing the rate of inflation for pensioners is dramatically higher than for other age groups.  Pensioners living on low fixed incomes with little hope of pulling themselves out of financial difficulty are even more likely to feel the pinch.  With prices for essential items going up and up, many older people are forced to cut back further and further, watching their quality of life deteriorate before their very eyes. 

“2.5 million pensioners already live in poverty and 1.4 million live in deep poverty.  It’s high time the Government took the bull by the horns and ensured older people get all the benefits they’re entitled to.  More than £5 billion goes unclaimed each year, lining the pockets of the Treasury instead of helping older people who, in the face of sky-rocketing inflation, need it just to get by. 

“The Government has known for a while that automatic payment of benefits could lift a huge number of older people out of poverty – what’s needed now is the political will to make it happen.”