Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
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Understanding older people's experiences of poverty and material deprivation
- Authors:
- DOMINY Nicola, KEMPSON Elaine
- Publisher:
- Corporate Document Services; Great Britain. Department for Work and Pensions
- Publication year:
- 2006
- Pagination:
- 87p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Leeds
The overall aims of the project were to provide an understanding of older people's experiences of poverty and their understanding of a range of indicators used to measure material deprivation. Therefore as well as providing a rich description of older people's saving and spending habits it also sought to understand how they interpreted material deprivation indicators. It was based on indepth interviews and focus groups and was undertaken by the Personal Finance Research Centre at the University of Bristol. Readers are recommended to also consult another DWP report published at the same time: Are Poor Pensioner Deprived? Undertaken by the University of Essex, it focuses on secondary analysis of material deprivation data.
The vulnerable life course: poverty and social assistance among middle-aged and older women
- Author:
- GUNNARSSON Evy
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 22(6), November 2002, pp.709-728.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Examines the current incomes and life courses of 14 middle aged older Swedish women who have periodically had to rely on social assistance. Their circumstances and living conditions are considered in relation to their earlier lives and the contextual conditions of the countries welfare state. All interviewed women had been the main carers of their children, and had worked part-time or in low-paid jobs. Concludes that their formal employment histories have been the foundation of their vulnerable economic situation in older age, which the Swedish social security system does little to combat. Argues that unless the bases and assumptions of the social security model are changed, there will continue to be many older women who live a life of poverty.
Keeping warm without heating up the planet
- Author:
- BATEMAN Neil
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 12.11.98, 1998, p.29.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
Discusses how trying to help clients keep warm often means that environmental concerns are way down the list. Explains how benefits can help.
Old, poor and at home: social security and elderly people in the community
- Authors:
- DANT Tim, et al
- Publisher:
- Open University. Department of Health and Social Welfare/Policy Studies Institut
- Publication year:
- 1988
- Pagination:
- 20p., tables.
- Place of publication:
- Milton Keynes
Benefit take-up and older people
- Author:
- AGE UK
- Publisher:
- Age UK
- Publication year:
- 2021
- Pagination:
- 10
- Place of publication:
- London
This paper sets out the latest figures on older people’s benefit take-up, looks at reasons for non-take up, and ways to address this problem. Key points; nearly a million pensioner households are entitled to, but not receiving, Pension Credit and 200,000 households are missing out on help with rent through Housing Benefit. In a single year £2.2 billion of these two benefits goes unclaimed; there are a range of inter-related reasons why people do not claim their entitlements including lack of awareness, an assumption that they would not be entitled to help, a concern that the process will be complicated, a reluctance to provide personal information, and negative attitudes about receiving benefits or asking for help; people may claim support after a change in circumstances or due to encouragement from friends, family, professionals, or advice organisations; ongoing publicity is needed, but it is also important that information is taken out to places where people are and that those in contact with older people, such as trusted health professionals, help identify those in need, encourage them to check entitlements, and refer them to appropriate support; information and advice services need the resources to provide benefit checks and to give people practical help with the process of claiming where necessary; the Government should do more to ensure that people receive their entitlements through ongoing national publicity and by exploring ways to improve the systems; ideally people would not need to rely on means-tested benefits to top up their income. However, currently they provide vital support for nearly a quarter of pensioner households, and more needs to be done to reach those who are missing out on support due. (Edited publisher abstract)
The implications of government policy for future levels of pensioner poverty
- Authors:
- CARRERA Leandro, REDWOOD Daniel, ADAMS John
- Publisher:
- Pensions Poverty Institute
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 81p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- London
In 2009/10 around 1.8 million pensioners were living in households with household income below the relative poverty line of 60% of median income after housing costs. This represents 16% of a total of 11.5 million pensioners living in the UK. Further state pension reforms may have an impact on the income of current and future pensioners and hence on future levels of pensioner poverty. This report examines the potential impact of a range of alternative policy options that Government could adopt on future levels of pensioner poverty. Some of the policy proposals considered relate to the latest proposals suggested by the Government such as the introduction of a single-tier state pension of £140 a week. The report highlights the trade-offs faced by all Governments in terms of the potential effect on poverty reduction of alternative policies and the costs of the different policy options. The policy options that appear to be most effective at reducing future levels of pensioner poverty, such as the introduction of a flat-rate single-tier pension for all pensioners, are also the most expensive for the Government to implement. The report does not aim to suggest which policy should be adopted, but instead to highlight the implications of policy choices for possible future levels of pensioner poverty.
Helping the poorest help themselves? Encouraging employment past 65 in England and the USA
- Author:
- LAIN David
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Policy, 40(3), July 2011, pp.493-512.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Place of publication:
- Cambridge
In the context of population ageing and low retirement incomes, the UK government has increasingly sought to encourage people to work longer. However, the OECD has argued that UK means-tested benefits, that are lost as a result of working, mean that delaying retirement is a less attractive option for the poorest. In addition, UK employees may have limited opportunity to delay retirement as line management decide whether individuals are allowed to work beyond the age of 65. In contrast, in the US, benefits are meagre and difficult to access and age discrimination legislation protects individuals from forced retirement. This paper examines whether adopting a US policy approach in the UK would increase employment of the poorest over 65s and enhance their financial position. The study uses data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and the US Health and Retirement Study to examine how wealth influences employment and how this is mediated by differences in health and education. It suggests that extending UK age discrimination legislation and restricting benefits would increase overall employment past 65, although not necessarily to US levels. The poorest over 65s are more likely to work in the USA than in England, but employment amongst the poorest is still low, especially compared with wealthier groups. A US policy approach would most likely damage the financial position of the poorest in the UK, with increased employment not sufficiently compensating for lost benefits.
The distributional impact of reforms to disability benefits for older people in the UK
- Authors:
- HANCOCK Ruth, PUDNEY Stephen
- Publisher:
- University of Essex. Institute for Social and Economic Research
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 26p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Colchester
The UK Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are non means-tested benefits paid to many disabled people aged 65 and over. They may also increase entitlements to means-tested benefits through the Severe Disability Premium (SDP). This report investigates proposed reforms involving the withdrawal of AA and DLA. It uses data from the Family Resources Survey to simulate the losses which current AA and DLA recipients would incur if AA and DLA were curtailed. It also considers the extent to which these losses could be mitigated if the SDP were to be retained or increased. It examines how average losses vary across the income distribution using different definitions of income and investigates the impact of potential reforms on the proportion of older people with incomes below various thresholds. The report finds that the abolition of AA and DLA would have a large impact on the poorer parts of the older population. Retaining or increasing the SDP within means-tested benefits could mitigate these losses to some extent. The report also shows the importance of the method of describing distributional impacts and that use of inappropriate income definitions in official reports has overstated recipients’ capacity to absorb the loss of these benefits.
Managing finances in later life
- Authors:
- HILL Katherine, SUTTON Liz
- Publisher:
- Loughborough University. Centre for Research in Social Policy
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 16p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Loughborough
Progress has been made in reducing pensioner poverty, however, around a third of pensioners do not claim the benefits they are entitled to. Older people have less opportunity to increase their income through paid work and have been particularly affected by rising energy and food prices and reduced income from savings. This project involved in-depth interviews with people (aged 65-84 at the first interview) 2 years apart to explore their changing needs and resources as they moved through later life. The research took a holistic approach to demonstrate the range of different structural, social and individual resources that people drew on to help them manage. The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings that relate to how older people manage their finances and the interplay between finances and other formal and informal resources. This summary highlights the implications for policies surrounding older people’s financial well-being, benefit receipt and take up rates, and access to financial services and information. The paper examines the impact of changes in older people’s financial circumstances including: what helps or hinders older people in managing their finances; how access to resources can protect against the impact of or help to manage financial change; the difference made by benefit receipt; the effect of personal budgeting skills and attitudes to money/spending; and the need for information and support.
Charity or entitlement? Generational habitus and the welfare state among older people in North-east England
- Authors:
- MOFFATT Suzanne, HIGGS Paul
- Journal article citation:
- Social Policy and Administration, 41(5), October 2007, pp.449-464.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Current UK policies aimed at reducing pensioner poverty involve targeting those in greatest need by supplementing their incomes with means-tested welfare benefits. It is believed that such policies provide more resources for those in greatest need. However, non-uptake of state welfare benefits by many older UK citizens exacerbates the widening income gap between the richest and poorest pensioners. The authors examine the underlying beliefs and discourses among those currently in retirement who lived through a time when welfare programmes had more of a putative abstract universalism than is now the case. Based on the narratives of people aged over 60 in North-east England, the study shows how the collective forces of structure and individual practice in relation to welfare accumulate over a lifetime and influence the ways in which people interact with the welfare system in later life. Results find that the reasons for the apparent lack of agency among older people in relation to claiming benefit entitlements are linked to the particular social, economic and political circumstances which have prevailed at various points prior to and since the inception of the UK welfare state. The authors argue that the failure of some older citizens to operate as citizen consumers can be conceptualized in terms of a generational welfare ‘habitus’, the consequences of which are likely to exacerbate inequalities in later life.