 Many old people could not afford a night out at a pub or restaurant |
Many old people are so hard up they cannot afford any of the finer things of life, a report by charity Age Concern suggests. It said one in three people over 65 are so strapped for cash that they cannot afford a holiday or even socialising.
The study of 510 people found most OAPs could "get by" on their income, but were not living life as most people know it.
The government's winter fuel allowance was widely praised by respondents.
Helen Wanless from Age Concern urged an increase in the state pension so that OAPs had enough money for extras.
"What we want to see is for the government to introduce a higher basic state pension of at least �109 a week, so that older people can afford to pay these kind of essential costs and also be able to afford daily activities such as going to get their hair cut or going out to the pub with friends".
The Age Concern report suggested 40% of people aged over 65 feel their social life is restricted by a lack of money and 41% reported they could not afford a holiday.
About 35% said they could not afford to spend a day out with friends or family, while about the same number said they had no spare cash for a night out at the pub or restaurant.
The government said it was committed to giving pensioners a "decent, secure income on retirement".
Minister for Pensions Reform Stephen Timms said: "The government has already made big steps in tackling pensioner poverty, but we are not complacent.
"The proportion of pensioners living in low-income households has fallen by two-thirds since 1997 - lifting almost two million pensioners out of absolute low income."
He said the average pensioner household was �1,400 per year better off during 2005-6 as a result of tax and benefit changes than under the 1997 system, while the least well-off third were �1,900.
But Conservative pensions minister Nigel Waterson said the report "underlines the plight of many pensioners in Labour's Britain - 2 million pensioners are still living in poverty and many are still not claiming means tested benefits."
He widened it out to include pensioners being "vulnerable to an increase in council tax and utility bills and as long as [Chancellor] Gordon Brown is the road block to pension reform, many pensioners are condemned to a life of hardship."
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The government has already made big steps in tackling pensioner poverty, but we are not complacent.
