The NPC believes the report helps to contradict recent claims by the Institute for Economic Affairs that pensioners had escaped the effects of the cuts to public spending and welfare.
The NPC's own research shows that:
- Pensioners are up to £710 a year worse off than other households as a result of the rising cost of living and the increase in VAT
- Annual rises the basic and second state pensions are to be reduced by linking them to the Consumer Price Index rather than the Retail Price Index
- The Government intends to reduce the winter fuel allowance by £100 for the over 80s and £50 for the under 80s later this year, despite the fact that over 25,000 pensioners died of cold related illnesses last winter
- Pension Credit for the poorest pensioners is being frozen for four years from 2011 meaning that about 1.7m pensioner households will lose an average of £3.20 a week
- Cuts to local authority funding is going to have a devastating effect on adult social services: Sheltered housing schemes and managers, home care, the closure of day centres, luncheon clubs etc
- 20% cuts in grants to bus services will mean fewer routes and cuts in services, leading to greater isolation of older people
- Cuts in Housing Benefit will affect 25% of pensioner households who live in rented property
Dot Gibson, NPC general secretary said:
"This study proves that the poorest in our society are paying the highest price for the cuts in public spending. Whether through lower pensions, reduced care services or cuts to winter fuel payments, older people are being told to shoulder a much bigger burden than those at the very top."
"Rather than declaring that the older generation is a drain on our society, we should recognize that every year, pensioners are providing over £30bn worth of unpaid caring, voluntary work and child minding.
"Yet one in five pensioners still live in poverty and rising costs of food and fuel, combined with record lows in savings returns, mean that pensioners continue to suffer a disproportionate increase in the cost of living."
"After a lifetime of working, older people deserve a decent state pension, proper care when they need it and the right to keep warm in the winter. The coalition government needs to do more to reassure pensioners that their retirement is not under threat."
