Three in four pensioners are living in a cold home

And don't forget the House of Commons briefing paper published on 5 November 2019 (i.e. just weeks before the General Election on 12 December 2019) where three options for reforming WFP were proposed including what has now been done.

We will never know but for the timing: a deadly pandemic followed by the war on Ukraine and the consequential energy and general cost of living crises where people needed more help not less, whether a Tory goverment would have carried out any of the reforms. I suspect not as the elderly are the Party's core voter base, but reforming WFP was on the table else why was the paper commissioned?

researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06019/SN06019.pdf

The very last paragraph says:

Withdrawal at a certain threshold would also create a “cliff-edge” problem. This could be tackled by introducing some sort to “taper”.... but his would be complicated and expensive to administer.

This was the bit that Reeves ignored in her zeal to fill a "black hole" that cannot exist and that is what has caused the biggest problem for those who just miss out on Pension Credit.

ViceVersa

Whitewavemark2 Several of us on this thread have already explained that yes, we do live in cold homes!

Why?

What makes your home particularly cold?
Is it rented or owned?
Why can't you move to a warmer home? (I'm not saying you can)
If you haven't enough money to spend on heating, whst are you spending it on?
Have you checked for benefits that cover what seems to be that greater need?

Nothing is simple but on such a large scale thing hafe to be simplified. So many questions to be answered about any individual being cold at home and they are not all in the government's gift to sort out. Some are of the person's own choosing or imposed on them by circumstance.

Nanna8 the idea, that no one at anytime or for any reason should be cold, is ridiculous.

Nobody is sweeping anything under the carpet. Many try to give help where they can.

nanna8

The numbers don’t matter, no one should be freezing cold because they can’t afford heating. If it was the Conservatives in charge I can just imagine the furore. I thought the Labour Party was supposed to help people. One of the reasons we left the UK in that dreadful Ted Heath’s regime was that we couldn’t afford to heat, eat or anything else. Nothing’s changed.

If you think that nothing's change in the UK since Ted Heath's time then you've either not been back or not looking about you when you were here. Everything has changed.

Here are the Tories talking about means testing the fuel allowance as far back as 2017.
www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/theresa-may-admits-she-does-not-know-how-many-pensioners-will-lose-winter-fuel-allowance

The truth is that the vast majority of people who received the WFA didn't need it. Those that do can and should apply for it.

The media who are now parroting each other to criticise Labour's policy have spent the last several years filling their headlines with 'Boomers are rich and living like kings' headlines....they can't have it both ways.

Whitewavemark2 Several of us on this thread have already explained that yes, we do live in cold homes!

Numbers do not matter so much as the fact that there is anyone in this position at all. Good for the newspapers for highlighting a need. Not something that should be swept under the carpet at all and maybe this publicity might make the government actually try to help.

mae13

Chocolatelovinggran

And the data to support this is?

Office For National Statistics and Age UK.

But that data doesn’t support the Express headline does it?

Chocolatelovinggran

And the data to support this is?

Office For National Statistics and Age UK.

There doesnt seem to be a single confirmed fact in the publication.

I would really like to know why pensioners with above Pension Credit eligability are cold. There are several other benefits they can claim. Has the newspaper done anything to help these pensioners?

Whitewavemark2

So are most of GN members living in cold homes?

Do a straw poll of friends - how many do you know live in cold homes.

I know of no one.

Neither do I.

rafichagran

Shinamae

I am 72,old rate state pension, no private pension at all.
So I’m just continuing to work 18 hours a week in a high dementia care home, luckily I do enjoy my work but I would be buggered without this little job….

Do you get a pension credit top up, help with C/T.

No, I wouldn’t even apply for it because I’m still working

Out of my either side neighbours, both elderly couples, one had his wooly hat on in the kitchen and I think a fleece when I saw him through the window and the other side use electric blankets instead of their heating. We aren't cold at all and use our heating as needed and our log burner. So, according to my quick poll, 2 out of 3 pensioners near me are cold this winter.

I don’t mean to sound harsh and I know that some people are struggling especially those just on the cusp of Pension Credit who miss out on all the fuel and other benefits that PC is a gateway to but how many people is that? It isn’t nine million.

I’ve recently finished reading Trust by Hernan Diaz. The central character talks about his study of mob psychology where people follow one another’s behaviour. In that case it’s about the mass get-rich-quick speculation on Wall Street that led to the 1929 crash.

Since last July, the media has bombarded us with stories about hard-up pensioners - and some genuinely are but not nine million out of thirteen million.

Pensioner couples are better off than single pensioners with an average income in 2023 of £561 pw after housing costs. That’s £2,431 a month. The lowest income a pensioner couple can have is £332 pw on Pension Credit which is £1,440 a month (plus WFP and WHD). Isn’t that level of income enough to heat a home adequately?

In 2023, 4.2 million pensioners lived alone. On average, single pensioners have less income than couples but they still have to heat their homes. So, it’s those that are more likely to be struggling with energy cost. But even if every pensioner who lives alone was cold it’s only half the number Age UK are claiming.

Whichever way I look at this, the numbers don’t add up.

Shinamae

I am 72,old rate state pension, no private pension at all.
So I’m just continuing to work 18 hours a week in a high dementia care home, luckily I do enjoy my work but I would be buggered without this little job….

Do you get a pension credit top up, help with C/T.

Monica it's just under 2000 sq ft (total for both floors), 50 years old, brick cavity walls with cavity insulation and full double glazing. Boiler is about 8 years old.

We are in N Derbyshire (not far from Buxton who once had snow in July) and house is abt 800 feet above sea level. I think this is probably higher than average.

I am 72,old rate state pension, no private pension at all.
So I’m just continuing to work 18 hours a week in a high dementia care home, luckily I do enjoy my work but I would be buggered without this little job….

mob martyrdom love it. Must remember that 😊

Whitewavemark2

We wear vests in this household😊😊

After a lot of nagging encouragement, DH is wearing the vests which I bought him about three years ago.

Every household is different and, of course, those with health condtions may need more warmth, but I simply don't believe that nine million pensioners need to be cold.

As I explained upthread, some 2.7 million pensioners either already pay higher rate tax or are on the cusp of having to pay higher rate tax due to fiscal drag That's a quarter of pensioner households with incomes of close to or over £50,270 a year.

On that basis, the other three quarters will have incomes between the minimum of single Pension Credit (in which case they will have at least £350 help with their winter energy bills) up to somewhere below the limit where they have a good income but won’t trip into the 40% bracket any time soon.

Age UK report that three quarters of pensioners say that their homes were colder than they would like them to be either some, most of or all of the time. That must mean that some people who could afford to heat their homes adequately are chosing not to.

I help out at a local lunch club that doubles as an informal advice session. I have heard over and over again people saying they can’t afford to heat their homes but when you dig a bit deeper to see if they might be entited to some help you find they have a comfortable income and thousands in the bank. It’s almost like some kind of mob martyrdom is going on ever since universal WFP was withdrawn.

We wear vests in this household😊😊

Allira

MayBee70

I’ve carried hot water bottles around with me every winter for years. Currently dog sitting at my daughters with my hottie. I always find my son and daughters homes cold when I sit for them. I don’t feel hard done by in some way because I use hot water bottles. My next door neighbour is very thin and frail and she has some sort of heated throw on her sofa. I did offer her some of my fleeces as I have far too many, as she only seems to wear thin cardigans but she didn’t want one. I’ve never got over the fact that people no longer wear vests.

I’ve never got over the fact that people no longer wear vests

I bought some thermal vests this winter. Nice and cosy, they do make a difference.

Posters saying they don't know any people who are cold in their homes are perhaps thinking that everyone is as fit as they are (and are possibly younger than some other Gransnetters). Often older people are not as mobile either and can't move as quickly as they did.

I’m 79 and most of my retired friends are of a similar age, with the odd exception.

Not a single one has a cold home.

Who on GN is suffering from a cold home?

I reckon - although I don’t really know, that an artist neighbour in his late 40s may be a bit short of cash and feeling the pinch, but he isn’t retired.

I of course recognise that there will be retired folk on a very low income who must struggle, but as monica has indicated, there is a lot of help out there. I do however wish help was more easily accessible to these people.

The numbers don’t matter, no one should be freezing cold because they can’t afford heating. If it was the Conservatives in charge I can just imagine the furore. I thought the Labour Party was supposed to help people. One of the reasons we left the UK in that dreadful Ted Heath’s regime was that we couldn’t afford to heat, eat or anything else. Nothing’s changed.

I have Daily Express headlines pop up on my Facebook page most days. I know straight away that it’s the express because they’re always click bait stories about Labour.

MayBee70

I’ve carried hot water bottles around with me every winter for years. Currently dog sitting at my daughters with my hottie. I always find my son and daughters homes cold when I sit for them. I don’t feel hard done by in some way because I use hot water bottles. My next door neighbour is very thin and frail and she has some sort of heated throw on her sofa. I did offer her some of my fleeces as I have far too many, as she only seems to wear thin cardigans but she didn’t want one. I’ve never got over the fact that people no longer wear vests.

I’ve never got over the fact that people no longer wear vests

I bought some thermal vests this winter. Nice and cosy, they do make a difference.

Posters saying they don't know any people who are cold in their homes are perhaps thinking that everyone is as fit as they are (and are possibly younger than some other Gransnetters). Often older people are not as mobile either and can't move as quickly as they did.

Wyllow3

I hate this kind of dishonesty in MSM.

All the Express had to say was, "based on a survey of pensioners with an income of under £20.000, 3 out of 4 report that....etc.

Just caught up with this.

Now that I can believe.

But entirely dishonest to suggest 3out of 4 pensioners are cold. You only have to think about it for a second or two to realise that the headline can’t possibly be correct.