Pensioners are up to more than £800 worse off when compared to before Labour took power a year ago, it has been reported. Skyrocketing household bills and the scrapping of the Winter Fuel Payment for many, costing £125 million on average, have twice outpaced this year’s state pension rise, leaving the elderly in the lurch. The Conservatives have conducted research and found that energy bills have risen by £152 for a typical household since July last year. This is notwithstanding Labour pledging to decrease them.
Moreover, council tax is to rise by £109 for the average Band D property in 2025, while the cost of groceries and takeaways has increased by £210 on average. The Tory study also concluded that water bills have gone up by £123 per year, phone bills £46, broadband by £36, and standard rate car tax up £5.
The party claimed that the average pensioner is therefore £806 worse off this financial year than last.
The state pension has increased by just £361.40.
Conservative shadow chancellor Mel Stride told The Mail: “Labour’s cost-of-living crisis is hitting pensioners hard.”
“After a lifetime of work, our pensioners deserve security in retirement,” he added. “But Labour’s choices are leaving them behind.”
Last month, MPs said a national strategy to tackle pensioner poverty is needed.
The Government should also decide on – and ensure – a minimum level of retirement income, the Work and Pensions Committee urged.
Its report said: “After a decline in pensioner poverty in the 2000s, the number of pensioners in relative low income started to rise again from 2010. This has been exacerbated by increases in the cost of living since 2021.”
It continued: “The number of people of pension age living in relative poverty (below 60% of median income) is 1.9 million or 16% of pensioners.
“Measures which factor in the cost of living show that between 2008/09 and 2022/23, the number of pensioners in households below the Minimum Income Standard (MIS)—the amount needed for a minimum dignified socially acceptable standard of living—rose from 1.5 to 2.8 million.
“The proportion of pensioners below 75% of MIS (where the risk of material deprivation increases substantially) rose from 5.9% in 2021/22 to 9.5% in 2022/23.
“In practice, this means cutting back on essentials, like food, energy use, and seeing friends, in an attempt to manage costs. Health experts explained the implications for health. Financial hardship can accelerate the ageing process, making it more likely that an older person will enter hospital or need care.”
A Government spokeswoman said: “These figures are speculative and do not take into account other benefits such as the Warm Homes Discount, keeping prescription charges low, and capping bus fares.
“Thanks to our commitment to the Triple Lock, millions of pensioners will see their State Pension rise by £1,900, and following our biggest ever campaign to boost Pension Credit take-up, nearly 60,000 extra pensioners are receiving financial support worth up to £4,300 a year.
“On top of this, nine million pensioners will receive a Winter Fuel Payment this year to support them during the colder months.”
