54% of UK pensioners on a low income find it a struggle to keep up with bills and credit commitments, according to polling published in September 2025 by the Living Wage Foundation.1.9 million, or 16% of pensioners in the UK are living in relative poverty, according to a 2024 study by Age UK.
The UK government’s decision in July 2024 to limit eligibility for Winter Fuel payments to those receiving Pension Credit or certain other means-tested benefits provoked widespread anger among pensioners. 10.8 million pensioners in 7.6 million households in England and Wales received the Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2023/2024. Following the 2024/25 changes, The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) estimated that 1.5 million individuals in 1.3 million households in England and Wales would receive a payment.
In July 2025, the House of Commons Work and Pensions published a report urging the Government to commit to a UK-wide, cross-government strategy for an ageing society, that will help target support to tackle pensioner poverty. Committee Chair Debbie Abrahams stressed that: “To boost incomes, the Government needs to come up with a strategy to increase Pension Credit take-up. It’s a scandal that so many have missed out for so many years, often through an aversion to claiming benefits altogether, or lack of support.” The report calls for a Pension Credit take-up strategy for England by the end of 2025 and for a taper to Pension Credit should also be considered to “mitigate the cliff-edge effect” for those who miss out.
The report calls on the government to decide on and ensure a minimum level of retirement income and highlights concerning longer-term trends that “threaten to undermine pension adequacy”, such as the rising number of people renting in the private sector during retirement rather than owning their home outright.
This symposium will serve as an invaluable opportunity to bring together stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, charities, local authorities, policymakers, and social care providers, to discuss the underlying causes of pensioner poverty, evaluate current efforts to tackle pensioner poverty, and exchange views on what a comprehensive, innovative national strategy to eliminate pensioner poverty should look like.
Programme
- Develop comprehensive, innovative strategies to eliminate pensioner poverty across the UK
- Understand current trends in pensioner poverty in the UK, which groups are most affected and the health impacts
- Examine existing government policy across the four nations of the UK aimed at tackling pensioner poverty and assess the impact of changes to the Winter Fuel Payment
- Exchange views on the range of benefits, tax, pension, workplace savings and other policy changes that could be employed to significantly tackle pensioner poverty
- Consider the role that a Pension Credit taper could play in tackling pensioner poverty and how to improve access to and take-up of Pension Credit and other support
- Evaluate what a minimum income for dignified retirement should look like and the range of options available to achieve this
- Consider the role that the Household Support Fund and other housing measures should play in tackling pensioner poverty
- Implement reforms to the NHS and social care that can better support pensioners and improve quality of life