Pensions Awareness Week: Retirement security cannot stop at the State Pension
Discussion about retirement security is often reduced to the annual State Pension increase. Pensions Awareness Week should prompt a broader question: what do people need to live securely and independently throughout later life?
New wage figures suggest that the State Pension could rise by 3.9% next April under the triple lock. This would increase the full new State Pension by up to £488 a year, although many pensioners will receive less depending on their National Insurance record and individual entitlement.
The increase would be welcome, but it cannot be considered in isolation. The security provided by a pension can be undermined if an older person cannot access suitable housing, reliable public transport or the health and social care they need. Retirement policy must address these issues together.
With the Government preparing for its own Budget on 28 October, Later Life Ambitions is recirculating its Budget for Later Life. It sets out eight clear asks:
Protect the State Pension
Reduce the tax on pensions
Tackle the gender pension gap
Support older people in the workplace
Establish a minimum income guarantee
Widen access to public transport
Make housing safe, secure, accessible and adaptable
Support health and social care
These are connected priorities. Protecting the State Pension and establishing a minimum income guarantee would help provide a secure financial foundation, while action on pensions taxation and the gender pension gap would address pressures and inequalities within the current system. Better workplace support would give older people who want or need to remain in employment a fair opportunity to do so.
Housing, transport and care determine what that financial security means in practice. They affect whether people can remain in their homes, reach essential services, participate in their communities and retain their independence.
LLA represents more than 250,000 older people through the Civil Service Pensioners’ Alliance, the National Association of Retired Police Officers and the National Federation of Occupational Pensioners, with the support of the Prison Officers’ Association.
As the Budget Statement approaches, the test should not be limited to the size of next year’s State Pension increase. It should also consider whether older people have the wider support required to live with security, independence and dignity.
