Spotlighting the Hidden Two Million at party conferences

As we take part in conference season around the country, Head of Policy and Influencing, Morgan Vine explains how we’ll be sharing our research and the experiences of older people with decision makers.

Wilf and Carol shared their experiences of financial hardship as part of our research

Across the next month, colleagues in the Independent Age Policy and Influencing department will be travelling around the country to meet politicians from across the political spectrum as party conference season gets underway.

Party conferences are an important time to get the attention of politicians and help them learn more about the key challenges that need to be addressed which they have the power to influence.

At Independent Age, we know from both our conversations with older people, and from analysing national data and statistics, that more people are having a financially insecure later life. The number of people living in poverty passed State Pension age has been on the rise since 2012, and the calls we get to our Independent Age Helpline are getting more serious and more complex.

To give a flavour of the realities people are facing at the moment, over the last few months we’ve been engaging with older individuals through our Helpline, face-to-face events and surveys. We heard from someone who told us they only wash a couple of times a week with cold water to save on energy bills, another shared they have reduced their food intake to one meal a day to keep costs down.People sacrificing seeing friends and family due to the cost of travel is becoming the norm.

This isn’t how anyone dreams of spending their later years; filled with anxiety, hardship and isolation. I know it’s not what I want for myself or the people I love. The situation needs to change, but how?

The power of policy change

When our advisers speak to older people with money worries, they do a fantastic job working out whether that person is entitled to any financial support, and helping them get it. But older people in poverty rely on systems which are broken or inadequate and advice alone won’t fix that.

That’s why Independent Age campaigns for policy change alongside providing direct services; so that systems are changed to better support everyone who needs them. To do this we have to get the attention of decision makers at the highest levels — in parliament, companies and regulators etc — and show them the solutions they could put in place which would make life better for all of us as we age.

The Independent Age Policy team find out about the biggest issues that affect older people facing financial hardship, and identify the systems and policies that need to change to improve their situation. Some of our recent research has looked at the impact of low Pension Credit uptake, the problems faced by private renters in England, the effect of high household costs across the UK, and the experience for older people living in poverty in Scotland.

Across September and October 2023, we’ll be taking the policy solutions we’ve identified and travelling to Bournemouth, Manchester, Liverpool, Aberdeen and Dunfermline to talk to politicians about why it’s important they work with us to make these solutions a reality. We’ll be amplifying the voices of the older people who have shared their stories with us, and pushing our key recommendations up the agenda.

Independent Age key policy calls

1. Both the UK Government and the Scottish Government need to develop meaningful strategies to address poverty, including those in later life. Alongside this we want both Governments to establish an independent Older People’s Commissioner to amplify the voices of the diverse communities that exist within later life.
2. The UK Government should move forward the Renters Reform Bill so that renters of all ages, including older renters, don’t face discrimination if they receive support from the welfare system, and have more protection from unexpected evictions. We also know that Local Housing Allowance needs to be increased so that older people reliant on Housing Benefit can pay their rent without making dangerous cutbacks.
3. The UK Government and utility companies across the UK need to address rising household costs by ensuring adequate financial support is in place, including considering social tariffs if they haven’t already got these. We also want to ensure older people on low income proactively targeted and told about this support, which so often they know nothing about.
4. The UK Government should conduct a cross-party process to establish the adequate level of income needed in later life to avoid poverty. Until this has been done, the UK Government should retain the State Pension triple lock to maintain the value of the pension and keep as many people as possible — especially those who rely on the State Pension and benefits as their main sources of income — out of financial hardship
5. Governments across the nations should conduct targeted and sustained activity to raise awareness of Pension Credit. Alongside this the UK Government should produce a Pension Credit uptake strategy including realistic, measurable targets, short-term activities, like targeted awareness raising campaigns, and new research on how best to target people missing out.

We’ll continue working with politicians across both the UK parliament and Scottish parliament to ensure they keep older people in poverty front of mind and develop innovative solutions to improve their lives. If you’re someone who cares about the issues older people in poverty face you can support our work by joining our campaign network. If you’re a politician please get in touch with public.affairs@independentage.org to see how you could help.