One in four pensioners are living in poverty
Apr 7 2009 by Paul Loraine, The Journal
A RISE in the state pension will not be enough to ward off pensioner poverty, a campaign group warned at a protest in Newcastle yesterday.
The state pension rose by 5% from £90.70 to £95.25 yesterday – almost an extra £5 a week.
But the National Pensioners Convention (NPC) want to see the figure rise to £165 – a figure they say will raise the pension above the poverty level.
Yesterday, the NPC staged demonstrations around the country, including in Newcastle – claiming that one in four pensioners are living below the official government poverty line and thousands more are struggling with the cost of living.
They say the money is available to the government to raise the state pension, including a £46bn surplus in the National Insurance Fund.
Denis Edgar, treasurer of the NPC Northern region, led the protests at Grey’s Monument in Newcastle city centre yesterday.
He said: “The credit crunch is having a big impact on pensioners and the ever rising fuel costs and council tax costs are eating into their pensions.
“Being on a fixed income means they have no other means of getting extra money. Last year saw the 100th anniversary of the state pension. Back then it was 25% of the average wage and today it is 14% of the average wage. Pensioners who helped to generate the wealth of the country are not getting the right and proper share of that wealth.”
Mr Edgar said another area of concern was the cost of healthcare for the elderly. “When you want to go into care, people find they have to sell all their assets to fund their own care. That can’t be right in today’s society.
“We’re hoping we can get the state pension above the official poverty level. At this present time, you can’t expect they will make the full increase but what we are saying is let’s increase it to £120 first.”
Meanwhile, Bob Pinkerton, secretary of the NPC Northern Region, said pensioners had been left “high and dry” by the government.
“What tends to suffer as a result of this is the social life of pensioners. In some cases it is more severe and it’s a case of whether to heat the house or eat. But when the money is going on food and fuel, there’s none left for a social life.”
Minister for pensions and the ageing society Rosie Winterton said the rise would “put extra cash in pensioners’ pockets every week, to help them through these tough times.” She added: “Poorer pensioners will get real help through the biggest ever rise in pension credit, which tops up their income, such as state pension or a private pension, and which will ensure no pensioner needs to live on less than £130 a week, or £198 for couples.”
A spokesman for the Department of Work and Pensions said: “The NPC proposal would cost in excess of £30 billion per year, in the early years – equivalent to an increase of around 7p on the basic rate of income tax.”
