Research found that more than a million parents had children living with them who were in their thirties or forties, and that parents spent an estimated 20 billion per annum supporting grown-up children financially - in some cases at the expense of their own retirement savings.
Source: UK Wealth Watch, Lloyds TSB (020 7356 2493)
Links: Lloyds TSB press release (Word file)
Date: 2003-Dec
The government published estimates of the membership of contracted-out pension schemes and of the state earnings-related scheme. The number of people with some form of second-tier pension provision of this kind increased from 17.5 million in 1978-79 to 23.4 million by 2000-01. Membership of contracted-out pension schemes increased by 59 per cent over this period, reaching 14.3 million. The figures also showed that membership of the state earning-related scheme had risen between 1996-97 and 2000-01, from 7.8 million to 9.1 million (contrary to government aims).
Source: Second Tier Pension Provision 1978/79 to 2000/01, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: Report (pdf) | Tables (Excel) | Press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Dec
The government announced that, from April 2004, pension credit would be increased in line with earnings, by over 3 to 105.45 a week for a single person and by over 5 to 160.95 a week for couples; the saving element threshold of the credit would increase so that single pensioners on incomes up to 144 a week, and couples on incomes of up to 211 a week, would gain; and the state retirement pension would be increased in line with the retail price index (RPI), by 2.8 per cent - entailing increases of 2.15 a week for a single pensioner (to 79.60) and 3.45 a week to ( 127.25) for a pensioner couple. But the government ruled out a restoration of the link between state pensions and average earnings increases.
Source: Pre-Budget Report: The strength to take the long-term decisions for Britain - Seizing the opportunities of the global recovery, Cm 6042, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 10 December 2003, columns 1061-1086, TSO | Press release 10 December 2003, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: Report (pdf) | Hansard | HMT press release | DWP press release | Table of benefit rates (pdf)
Date: 2003-Dec
Researchers examined barriers to benefit take-up among pensioners from black and minority ethnic groups. Problems identified included language barriers, concerns about the impact of claiming on residency status, and difficulties arising from not having a national insurance number (this particularly affected Asian women).
Source: Helen Barnard and Nick Pettigrew, Delivering Benefits and Services to Black and Minority Ethnic Older People, Research Report 201, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report (pdf links | Summary (pdf) | DWP press release
Date: 2003-Dec
A committee of the House of Lords proposed a universal state pension paid on the basis of citizenship rather than national insurance contributions record.
Source: Aspects of the Economics of an Ageing Population, Fourth Report (Session 2002-03), HL 179-I, House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | EOC press release | Help the Aged press release | Observer report
Date: 2003-Dec
A think-tank pamphlet said that the pension system was inadequate - it was bewildering in its complexity, expensive, and failed to provide an adequate standard of living for a large proportion of pensioners. The author proposed replacing existing benefits with a universal pension system designed to allow everyone a comfortable living from the age of 70 onwards; increasing the basic state pension for a single person by more than 50 per cent, to 120 per week; reducing dependence on means-tested benefits; and raising the state pension age to 70 on a phased basis.
Source: Charles Elphicke, Ending Pensioner Poverty: Reforming the state pension system, Centre for Policy Studies (020 7222 4488)
Links: Pamphlet (pdf)
Date: 2003-Dec
A report looked at the role of finances in decisions about early moves out of work, and the effect of such moves on future finances. It examined the relative importance of financial incentives in shaping retirement behaviour; and explored people's motivations, circumstances and experiences, in order to identify underlying rationales and explanations for behaviour.
Source: Sue Arthur, Money, Choice and Control: The financial circumstances of early retirement, Policy Press for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary | JRF Findings D23 | JRF press release
Date: 2003-Dec
A research report examined pensioners motivations and barriers to claiming the minimum income guarantee, and their likely reactions to the new pension credit (which was introduced on 6 October 2003). The research suggested that publicity campaigns and changes to the claims process might have helped to increase take-up. Of those identified by the research as likely to be eligible for pension credit and who were not claiming MIG, 81 per cent agreed they would be more likely to apply for a benefit to which most pensioners were entitled. The government released figures showing that over 1.2 million households were receiving more money as a result of pension credit. But opposition politicians said that it could take more than six years for the government to hit its target of 75 per cent take-up.
Source: Mark McConaghy et al., Entitled but not Claiming?: Pensioners, the minimum income guarantee and pension credit, Research Report 197, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040) | Press release 11 November 2003, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: Report (pdf links) | Summary (pdf) | DWP press release (1) | DWP press release (2) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Nov
The government began consultation on whether the sale of home reversion plans should be regulated by the Financial Services Authority. It said the target market for home reversion plans tended to be elderly people who had paid off their mortgage: although informal discussions with stakeholders had provided no evidence of consumer detriment, the market was growing rapidly. (Home reversion plans involve the partial or full sale of the property, usually to a financial services company, under an arrangement allowing the homeowner to retain rights of occupation until their death.)
Source: Regulating Home Reversion Plans: Consultation document, HM Treasury (020 7270 4558)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | HMT press release
Date: 2003-Nov
A think-tank briefing paper examined the reasons for greater levels of poverty among older pensioners. It proposed age additions for the oldest, and said that increasing the basic state pension to the means-tested level for those aged over 80 could eliminate the imperfect take-up of minimum income guarantee/pension credit for this group.
Source: Why are Older Pensioners Poorer?, Briefing Note 6, Pensions Policy Institute (020 7848 3744)
Links: PPI briefing note (pdf)
Date: 2003-Oct
Kent county council (the largest local authority in England and Wales) reportedly proposed that the council tax increase for 134,000 pensioner households - about a quarter of all households in the county - should be tied to the inflation rate in 2004-05. It told the government that it would make up the funding shortfall by asking the remaining three-quarters for an extra 30p a week. (In 2003-04 Kent introduced a 12.5 per cent increase - five times above inflation, but close to the national average - leading to protests from pensioners.) Three other county councils were subsequently reported as saying that they were considering a similar move.
Source: The Guardian, 4 October 2003 | The Guardian, 14 October 2003
Links: Guardian report 4/10 | Guardian report 14/10
Date: 2003-Oct
Final data on the number of deaths that occurred in England and Wales during 2002 were published. There were an estimated 27,230 excess deaths during the 2001-02 winter; and 24,000 (provisional estimate) during the 2002-03 winter. Campaigners called for an extra 4 billion in funding for energy efficiency programmes to end the 'scandal' of excess winter deaths.
Source: Press release 30 October 2003, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034) | Press release 30 October 2003, National Energy Action (0191 261 5677)
Links: ONS press release (pdf) | NEA press release | Age Concern press release
Date: 2003-Oct
An article looked at trends in excess winter mortality since 1950. Levels of excess winter mortality had decreased over the period, although substantial year-on-year variability persisted. The months from December to March had above-average mortality levels, and the months from May to October had consistently below-average mortality.
Source: Helen Johnson and Clare Griffiths, 'Estimating excess winter mortality in England and Wales', Health Statistics Quarterly 20, Winter 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf)
Date: 2003-Oct
The opposition Conservative party said that it would restore the link between the state pension and average earnings (abolished under an earlier Conservative government). The policy would be paid for by abolishing the state second pension. A think-tank briefing paper said the policy would benefit wealthy pensioners at the expense of women.
Source: David Willetts MP and Stephen Yeo, A Fair Deal for Everyone on Pensions, Conservative Party (020 7222 9000) | The Effect of the Conservative Party s Pension Policy, Briefing Note 5, Pensions Policy Institute (020 7848 3744)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | Conservative Party press release | Mercer press release | PPI briefing note (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
The government announced (at the Labour party conference) that people who put off claiming their state pension for five years would receive up to 30,000 in a lump sum - 50 per cent more than previously expected. Pensions experts said the lump sum would do little more than compensate for deferring 100 a week for five years, and that crucial details regarding the tax and benefits (means test) implications of the payment had not been spelt out.
Source: Speech by Andrew Smith MP (Secretary of State for Work and Pensions), 2 October 2003 | Press release 3 October 2003, Mercer Human Resource Consulting (020 7963 3127)
Links: Text of speech | Mercer press release | Times article | IOD press release
Date: 2003-Oct
The new pension credit came into force on 6 October 2003, guaranteeing claimants aged 60 and over an income of at least 102.10 a week ( 155.80 for couples). The Equal Opportunities Commission said that the credit would help lift many female pensioners out of poverty, but for more than a quarter of those entitled to claim it would not: it could therefore only ever be part of the solution to women's poverty. A think-tank briefing note said the new credit was progressive, with average gains of 8 per cent among the poorest tenth of households containing an individual aged 65 or over.
Source: Press release 3 October 2003, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171) | House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 14 October 2003, column 5WS, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 6 October 2003, Equal Opportunities Commission (0161 833 9244) | Mike Brewer and Carl Emmerson, Two Cheers for the Pension Credit?, Briefing Note 39, Institute for Fiscal Studies (web publication only)
Links: DWP press release | Hansard | EOC press release | IFS Briefing Note (pdf) | Guardian report | Guardian article by DWP minister
Date: 2003-Oct
A report said that council tax in England had almost doubled between 1993 and 2003, but most pensions had only increased by a quarter in the same period. The average household paying council tax spent 3 per cent of its income on it, but the tax burden on pensioner households was much higher - twice as high in the case of a single council tax payer aged 75 or over.
Source: Peter Kenway and Jenny Pannell, The Impact of Council Tax on Older People s Income, Help the Aged (020 7278 1114)
Links: Report (pdf) | Help the Aged press release
Date: 2003-Sep
A report examined the situation of the growing number of children brought up by members of their extended family, or family friends. People who took over the care of their grandchildren or the children of friends often suffered hardship as a result. The report recommended the introduction of a state benefit for such carers, as well as a range of payments to help them with everyday costs.
Source: Alison Richards and Robert Tapsfield, Funding Family and Friends Care: The way forward, Family Rights Group (020 7923 2628)
Links: Summary (pdf) | FRG press release (pdf) | BAAF response (pdf) | Community Care report
Date: 2003-Sep
A private member's Bill was introduced to give free bus passes to pensioners and disabled people in England.
Source: Joyce Quin MP, Transport (Concessionary Fares) Bill, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 16 September 2003, columns 721-722, TSO
Links: Hansard
Date: 2003-Sep
The average net income of all pensioner units grew by 64 per cent in real terms between 1979 and 1996-97 (average earnings in the whole economy grew by 36 per cent in real terms over the same period). This growth stemmed from substantial increases in incomes from benefits, occupational pensions and investments. In more recent years, average net income continued to grow by around 23 per cent between 1994-95 and 2001-02.
Source: The Pensioners Incomes Series: 2001/2, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: Report (pdf) | Technical annex (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
A report contained the findings of a project that investigated the distribution of older people living on income-related benefits. All wards and districts in England and Wales were ranked and mapped to highlight the most disadvantaged areas. The results were analysed at a regional, England and Wales, and Wales-only level. It was found that 30 per cent of those aged over 74 were dependent on means-tested benefits: but in the 30 wards with the highest dependency rates, the proportion ranged from 79 per cent to more than 97 per cent.
Source: Myfanwy Lloyd, David McLennan, Michael Noble, Maria Sigala and Gemma Wright, Older People Count: The Help the Aged income index for older people in England and Wales 2003, Help the Aged (020 7278 1114)
Links: Summary (pdf) | Help the Aged press release | Guardian report | Observer report
Date: 2003-May
A report said that benefit take-up work could radically improve the lives of older people who were under-claiming their entitlements; and that targeting, home-visiting and ongoing support were key to improving benefit take-up amongst hard-to-reach groups.
Source: Serious Benefits: Success of CAB benefit take-up campaigns, Citizens Advice (020 7833 2181)
Links: Report (pdf) | CA press release
Date: 2003-May
The government gave a commitment to offer alternative methods of collecting benefits and pensions to people unable to access automated machines at post office counters. (From April 2003 all pensioners and benefit claimants were able to collect their money using keypads in post offices, as part of the phasing out of order books and Giro cheques. Campaigners had raised concerns over the ability of disabled and older people to use the new system.)
Source: The Guardian, 21.5.03
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2003-May
A report said that council tax was taking a rising share of pensioners incomes; that it was a greater burden for pensioner households than for non-pensioner households; and that council tax benefit was not being claimed by many pensioners who were entitled to it.
Source: The Impact of the Council Tax on Older People's Income: Initial review, New Policy Institute (020 7721 8421)
Links: Link removed
Date: 2003-Apr
The government announced in the Budget that people would be able to keep the full rate of most benefits during hospital stays of up to 52 weeks (instead of 13). It also said that an additional 100 annual payment would be made to households where a person was over 80, in addition to the existing 200 winter fuel payment.
Source: Budget 2003: Building a Britain of economic strength and social justice - Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report, and Financial Statement and Budget Report, HC 500, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debates 9.4.03, columns 271-372, TSO
Links: Report | Technical annex (pdf) | Budget speech | Hansard | DWP press release | Age Concern press release
Date: 2003-Apr
A committee of MPs said that confusion about the state pensions system, and difficulties in understanding its complexity, were major barriers to take-up.
Source: Tackling Pensioner Poverty: Encouraging take-up of entitlements, Twelfth Report (Session 2002-03), HC 565, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Apr
From 1 April 2003 men aged 60-65 became entitled to a free bus pass allowing half-fare travel on local buses (as a minimum: local authorities may run more generous schemes).
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Answers 23.1.03, columns 508-509W, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2003-Apr
A committee of MPs said the system of pension provision in the United Kingdom was basically sound, but that there were still too many pensioner households in poverty. It said there was nothing inherently wrong with a means-tested approach which focused available resources on the poorest pensioners, provided the issue of take-up was adequately addressed. An equality watchdog said that the MPs had ignored the problem of poverty among women in old age.
Source: The Future of UK Pensions, Third Report (Session 2002-03), HC 92-I, House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 12.4.03, Equal Opportunities Commission (0161 833 9244)
Links: Report | EOC press release
Date: 2003-Apr
A report examined recent trends in pensioner living standards, analysing how increases in the minimum income guarantee have affected pensioner poverty. It said that 22 per cent of pensioners were in poverty in 2001-02, the lowest level since the mid-1980s; that since the mid-1990s pensioner incomes have generally kept pace with the growth in non-pensioner incomes; that non-take-up of benefits explains a small proportion of the continuing poverty amongst pensioners; and that reforms announced since 2001-02, such as the new pension credit, might reduce pensioner poverty by a further 400,000 by 2004-05.
Source: Alissa Goodman, Michal Myck and Andrew Shephard, Sharing in the Nation's Prosperity? Pensioner poverty in Britain, Commentary 93, Institute for Fiscal Studies (020 7291 4800)
Links: Press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Mar
Campaigners said that many older people continue to live in poverty and to be excluded from the everyday opportunities of life - despite government commitments on social justice. They warned that the problem is likely to get worse, with the basic state pension set to fall to 7 per cent of average earnings by 2050.
Source: Older People: Ignored and Forgotten, Help the Aged (020 7278 1114)
Links: Report (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-Mar
A study of attitudes towards inherited wealth found that views vary not only according to age, culture and socio-economic status, but also in relation to emotive questions of what is being bequeathed and how much can properly be spent by older people on themselves.
Source: Ruth Hancock, Savita Katbamna, Graham Martin, Harriet Clarke and Rachel Stuchbury, Attitudes to Inheritance: Exploratory study (2002), York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 431213)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Mar
A study compared different approaches to collecting information on personal assets from pensioners.
Source: Peter Betts, Rachel Breman and Debbie Collins, Comparing Strategies for Collecting Information on Personal Assets, Working Paper 9, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Working Paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
The actuarial profession said that the best way to tackle the problem of retired women living in poverty is to address the underlying problems of discrimination they suffer - rather than trying to manipulate pensions and savings schemes in their favour.
Source: Submission from the Actuarial Profession to the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs Inquiry into Aspects of the Economics of an Ageing Population, Institute of Actuaries (01865 268205)
Links: Submission (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
