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For richer for poorer: the financial situations of older people in Wales; executive summary
- Authors:
- HELP THE AGED, AGE CONCERN, WALES. Welsh Assembly Government
- Publisher:
- Help the Aged
- Publication year:
- 2004
- Pagination:
- 8p.
- Place of publication:
- Cardiff
Presents measures for income, social exclusion and deprivation among older poelpe in Wales. While notions of poverty are subjective in many respects it is objectively evident that older people in Wales are the poor relations of the European Union.
Grey matters: growing older in deprived areas: a guide for donors and grant-makers
- Authors:
- BOTHAM Claudia, LUMLEY Tristan
- Publisher:
- New Philanthropy Capital
- Publication year:
- 2004
- Pagination:
- 76p.
- Place of publication:
- London
For many of the older people living in deprived areas, growing older does not mean having access to the kind of opportunities for an active lifestyle and self-fulfilment that we might hope to have after retirement. Poverty, which is deeper and more persistent for older people than for working age adults, prevents people from accessing many of the activities that are associated with an active retirement. Approximately 2 million older people have been in poverty for at least three of the last four years. The health inequalities that are associated with poverty mean that older people in deprived areas die younger, and spend more time in ill health. The poorest 10% of people are more than twice as likely to die before the age of 65 as the richest 10%. One of the problems linked to poverty in later life is isolation. This means seeing friends, family or neighbours less than once a week and affects at least 2 million older people in the UK. Isolation can lead to decreasing physical and mental health, and makes older people almost invisible to support services that might help them. Completing the vicious cycle of problems for older people in deprived areas is exclusion - a complex situation in which the normal support structures of society have broken down for an individual, and problems like poverty and isolation are made even worse. Some people are more likely to be trapped in this vicious cycle, including older women, the over 75s, older people with disabilities, those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, and older lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals.
Older and colder: the views of older people experiencing difficulties keeping warm in winter
- Author:
- WRIGHT Fay
- Publisher:
- Help the Aged
- Publication year:
- 2004
- Pagination:
- 60p.
- Place of publication:
- London
The report seeks to examine the views, attitudes, perceptions and behaviour of older people who are in fuel poverty or who are concerned about heating their homes. The study offers an important new perspective on what should be done to ensure that older people in the UK live in warm homes during the winter months.
Towards a citizen's pension: interim report
- Author:
- NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PENSION FUNDS
- Publisher:
- National Association of Pension Funds
- Publication year:
- 2004
- Pagination:
- 64p.
- Place of publication:
- London
A ‘Citizen’s Pension’, also known as a Universal Pension, is a basic amount payable to every individual over state pension age who passes a residency test. This report considers a Citizen’s Pension of at least £105 a week in 2004 terms, indexed to earnings, as this is the current minimum level of income a person over pension age would have through Pension Credit. The benefits of a Citizen’s Pension would be adequacy, simplicity, inclusion, encouragement to save, efficiency and certainty. Transition to a Citizen’s Pension would speed up the change occurring anyway to the state pension system, while improving it. With a Citizen’s Pension, the role of the state in poverty prevention is clarified, making decisions on any further state role (including enhancing voluntary or compulsory saving) clearer. No pension policy can satisfy all preferences, so a decision for a Citizen’s Pension would be made because it gives the best package overall for the long-term.There are perceived practical problems with a Citizen’s Pension, but this report suggests that some of these are misplaced, and that others can be resolved.
Report to Scottish Executive Health Department on the implementation of the clinical standards for food, fluid and nutritional care in hospitals
- Author:
- SCOTLAND. Scottish Executive. Health Department
- Publisher:
- Scotland. Scottish Executive
- Publication year:
- 2004
- Pagination:
- 35p.
- Place of publication:
- Edinburgh
This report adressess the issues necessary to improve the nutritional status of patients in hospitals.
Age and security: how social pensions can deliver effective aid to poor older people and their families
- Author:
- GORMAN Mark
- Publisher:
- Help Age International
- Publication year:
- 2004
- Pagination:
- 48p.
- Place of publication:
- London
In recent years there has been growing interest in the potential for using social protection instruments as tools for development in poor countries. At the same time, the debate around pension reform becomes more urgent as numbers of older people grow, even in the developing world. This presentation makes the case for non-contributory pensions as a means of addressing old-age poverty and delivering "effective aid" more widely at a community level.
Routes out of poverty: a research review
- Authors:
- KEMP Peter, et al
- Publisher:
- Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- Publication year:
- 2004
- Pagination:
- 126p.
- Place of publication:
- York
While many people remain persistently poor over time, a considerable number of people move into and out of poverty. The dynamic nature of poverty has considerable implications for the design of policy instruments that are intended to achieve the Government’s goal of tackling poverty and social exclusion. This report brings together the existing research evidence on ‘ladders’ out of poverty. It examines the extent to which there is income mobility over time and identifies the key life events that are associated with movements out of poverty. It devotes particular attention to the extent to which paid employment can act as a ladder out of poverty. Separate chapters look at young people, families with children, and older people. The final chapter outlines important gaps in existing knowledge and suggests areas where future research is needed on ladders out of poverty.
Old and cold: older people and policies failing to address fuel poverty
- Author:
- WRIGHT Fay
- Journal article citation:
- Social Policy and Administration, 38(5), October 2004, pp.488-503.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Research, funded by the British Gas Help the Aged Partnership and carried out by the Institute of Gerontology, King's College London, explored the multidimensional issues of fuel poverty. A sample of older homeowners and private renters living in England, Scotland and Wales were interviewed in the Spring of 2003 to explore their experiences of keeping their homes warm in the preceding winter. It was found that almost half of the sample for whom full information was available were in fuel poverty. Government schemes failed to address some important issues. Grants were only available to those with “passport benefits”, excluding those who had minimal occupational pensions. Although most respondents had central heating, it was often old and ineffective, yet grants were not available to modernize them. Government schemes did not extend to paying for external and internal insulation for solid wall properties yet many older people live in such property. Several older people lived in rural areas not connected to mains gas. As mains gas currently provides the cheapest fuel, they faced high bills, yet government policies do not address the differential fuel costs in these areas. The culture of many older people in the study contributed to their living in cold homes. They lived frugally and usually turned heating off in daylight hours during winter. It was also a common practice to sleep in an unheated bedroom during winter and to keep the window open at night. Such practices are acknowledged to be unhealthy.
Poverty and low income: tackling the under-claiming of welfare benefits for older people
- Author:
- DAVEY Lynne
- Journal article citation:
- Housing Care and Support, 7(2), June 2004, pp.32-35.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
The challenge of poverty and low income is a key issue for organisations concerned with groups of the population at risk of social exclusion. In particular, poorer, older people who quality for benefits remain the largest group most likely not to claim these benefits. Housing 21, which provides housing, care and support services for older people in England, encourages its residents to claim their full entitlement of benefits by offering advice and support from its two welfare benefit managers. This article highlights how their work has really made a difference to the lives of older people and suggests what needs to be done.
Older labour migrants' well being in Europe: the case of Switzerland
- Authors:
- BOLZMAN Claudio, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 24(3), May 2004, pp.411-429.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Examines several aspects of the social situation of the older immigrant population in Switzerland. Reviews their demographic history and characteristics and provides profiles of their health and well being, their material standard of life and access to social security and related benefits. It reports selected findings from an original survey of older Italian and Spanish citizens who are resident in the country, which show relatively high rates of disadvantage and poverty. The determination of a large proportion of the immigrant population to remain in Switzerland after they have ceased work demonstrates that the minorities who entered the country as labour migrants will become a permanent element of the Swiss population and its society. Neither the politicians nor the general public in Switzerland have yet accepted the reality of this new diversity. Concludes by discussing the social policy and attitudinal options that face the governments and the population of Switzerland and many other European countries.