Corporate report
(CSV) Rate of pensioner poverty – DWP equality information 2013 (data)
Updated 12 July 2013
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| 8. Rate of pensioner poverty | |||
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| Data source | |||
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| Family Resources Survey | |||
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| Time period and availability | |||
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| Splits currently available by age, disability, ethnicity and gender. | |||
| Latest data available at July 2013 covered 2011/12. | |||
| Produced once a year covering a financial year, with a delay of just over a year after the end | |||
| of the period referred to. | |||
| Data do not include care home residents due to the sample for the survey used consisting of the | |||
| private household population. | |||
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| What does this tell us? | |||
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| The indicator measures the percentage of pensioners in households with incomes below 60 per cent of equivalised contemporary median income, After Housing Costs, meaning they are in relative low income. | |||
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| The Government wants all pensioners to have a decent and secure income in retirement. Key strategies include the restoration of the earnings link for the basic State Pension and the “triple guarantee" | |||
| that the basic State Pension will increase by the highest of earnings growth, price increases or 2.5 per cent. In addition, Government is protecting key benefits for older people, including Winter Fuel Payments, | |||
| free prescriptions, and free TV licences for those aged 75 and over. Automatic enrolment is being introduced into workplace pensions to reinvigorate private pension savings, and it was announced in the Budget | |||
| 2012 that the Government will reform the State Pensions system to introduce a single tier pension for future pensioners, which will lead to a simpler and fairer system that reduces the need for means testing and supports saving. | |||
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| How will an improvement be shown? | |||
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| Generally, a decrease in this indicator will demonstrate that an improvement has been achieved, but external factors such as wider economic conditions also need to be taken into account. | |||
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| Links to other information that you may find useful | |||
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| Further analysis of Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data are shown in the annual HBAI publication, available at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=hbai_arc | |||
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| Table 8.1: Poverty rate for pensioners by age, UK, 2011/12 1,2,3,6,7,8 | Not set | Not set | Not set |
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| Age | Poverty rate (percentage of pensioners in low income households) | Not set | Not set |
| Not set | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 |
| Under 65 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| 65-69 | 14 | 12 | 12 |
| 70-74 | 15 | 13 | 13 |
| 75-79 | 16 | 14 | 13 |
| 80-84 | 17 | 16 | 15 |
| 85+ | 19 | 18 | 16 |
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| Source: Households Below Average Income 2011/12 | Not set | Not set | Not set |
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| The rates of pensioner poverty have fallen slightly across age groups since 2009/10, though these small changes should be treated with caution as they are not necessarily statistically significant. | Not set | Not set | Not set |
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| Table 8.2: Poverty rate for pensioners by disability, UK, 2011/12 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 | Not set | Not set | Not set |
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| Disability status | Poverty rate (percentage of pensioners in low income households) | Not set | Not set |
| Not set | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 |
| Those living in families where no-one is disabled | 16 | 14 | 14 |
| Those living in families where someone is disabled | 15 | 14 | 13 |
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| Source: Households Below Average Income 2011/12 | Not set | Not set | Not set |
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| Since 2009/10 the rates of pensioner poverty have fallen for both those living in families where someone is disabled and those where no-one is disabled, though these small changes should be treated with caution as they are not necessarily statistically significant. | Not set | Not set | Not set |
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| Table 8.3: Poverty rate for pensioners by ethnic group of head of household, UK, 2009/10-2011/12 1,2,3,4,7,9,10 | Not set | Not set | Not set |
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| Ethnic group of head (3-year average) | Poverty rate (percentage of pensioners in low income households) | Not set | Not set |
| Not set | 2007/08-2009/10 | 2008/09-2010/11 | 2009/10-2011/12 |
| White | 16 | 15 | 14 |
| Mixed / Multiple Ethnic Groups | .. | .. | .. |
| Asian or Asian British | 33 | 33 | 31 |
| Indian | 29 | 31 | 27 |
| Pakistani | 49 | 37 | 37 |
| Bangladeshi | .. | .. | .. |
| Chinese | .. | .. | .. |
| Any other Asian background | .. | .. | .. |
| Black/ African/ Caribbean/ or Black British | 27 | 24 | 20 |
| Other ethnic group | 27 | 28 | 23 |
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| Source: Households Below Average Income 2009/10-2011/12 | Not set | Not set | Not set |
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| Ethnicity classifications have changed since previous reports; the historical data presented here is based on the new output classficiation. | Not set | Not set | Not set |
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| Table 8.4: Poverty rate for pensioners by gender, UK, 2011/12 1,2,3,6,7 | Not set | Not set | Not set |
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| Gender | Poverty rate (percentage of pensioners in low income households) | Not set | Not set |
| Not set | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 |
| Male | 14 | 13 | 13 |
| Female | 16 | 15 | 14 |
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| Source: Households Below Average Income 2011/12 | Not set | Not set | Not set |
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| The rates of pensioner poverty have fallen slightly for both males and females since 2009/10, though these small changes should be treated with caution as they are not necessarily statistically significant. | Not set | Not set | Not set |
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| Notes: | Not set | Not set | Not set |
| 1. This indicator is measured using Households Below Average Income statistics sourced from the Family Resources Survey. The indicator measures the percentage of pensioners with incomes below 60 percent of contemporary equivalised median income, After Housing Costs. Data are annual with approximately a 12-month time lag after the end of the survey period. | Not set | Not set | Not set |
| 2. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. Estimates showing ethnic breakdowns are presented as three-year averages because of small sample sizes. However, the figures must still be treated with some caution, as the sample sizes are still small for certain ethnic minority groups. | Not set | Not set | Not set |
| 3. Proportions of individuals in low-income households have been rounded to the nearest percentage point. | Not set | Not set | Not set |
| 4. Disability is defined as having any long-standing illness, disability or impairment that leads to a substantial difficulty with one or more areas of the individual’s life. Everyone classified as disabled under this definition would also be classified as disabled under the Equality Act 2010. However, some individuals classified as disabled under the Equality Act 2010 would not be captured by this definition. | Not set | Not set | Not set |
| 5. No adjustment is made to disposable household income to take into account any additional costs that may be incurred due to the illness or disability in question, and disability benefits have been included in the equivalised household income used. This means that the position in the income distribution of these groups, as shown here, may be somewhat upwardly biased. Results based on incomes excluding disability benefits are available on request. | Not set | Not set | Not set |
| 6. '..' means data is not available due to small sample size. | Not set | Not set | Not set |
| 7. Results cover the financial year for each year, i.e. April to March. | Not set | Not set | Not set |
| 8. Pensioners are defined as all those adults above State Pension Age. Prior to 6th April 2010 women reached SPA from age 60. From 6th April 2010 the qualifying age for women is gradually increasing, therefore the age groups included have changed over time. The changes do not affect men whose SPA is currently 65. | |||
| 9. Ethnicity figures reflect the new harmonised standards published in August 2011. | |||
| 10. '-' is given for previous years where the ethnicity classification has now changed. | |||
| 11. As the HBAI is derived from sample data all the figures are subject to sampling error. Different figures in HBAI are subject to widely differing levels of sampling error. For changes in the overall pensioner group to be statistically significant they would need to be in the order of 1.3 percentage points or around 130-140,000 pensioners. Statistical significance is not provided for these particular breakdowns | |||
| 12. Households Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics assume that both partners in a couple benefit equally from the household’s income, and will therefore appear at the same position in the income distribution. Research has suggested that, particularly in low income households, the assumption with regard to income sharing is not always valid as men sometimes benefit at the expense of women from shared household income. This means that it is possible that HBAI results broken down by gender could understate differences between the two groups. |