Scotland Manifesto: Why Scotland needs a plan to reduce pensioner poverty

In the first of our series of blogs exploring Independent Age’s manifesto calls ahead of the Scottish Parliament election, Scotland Senior Policy and Public Affairs Officer Malcolm Sayers sets out how a pensioner poverty strategy could make a difference.

Today in Scotland, almost 160,000 pensioners live in poverty — more than at any time in almost 20 years.

In a wealthy and compassionate society, everyone should be able to live a decent and dignified life. But a growing number of older people don’t have enough to live on. It’s time to change our systems to deliver security, not struggle, for older people across Scotland.

People of all ages in Scotland support our call for change: 9 in 10 recognise pensioner poverty is a growing problem or older people, and an overwhelming majority want more action on pensioner poverty from political parties.

In this blog series, we’ll set out the five pledges we are asking all political parties to make ahead of the Holyrood elections in May.

1. Implement a national pensioner poverty strategy
2. Appoint a Commissioner for Older People
3. Deliver a decent and dignified social security system
4. Reduce energy bills
5. Guarantee the right to a secure and affordable home.

A pensioner poverty strategy for Scotland

Poverty among pensioners is often overlooked. It’s wrongly assumed that poverty in later life is not a big issue. But pensioner poverty is rising in Scotland. Today, 160,000 pensioners are in poverty — that number has risen by over 30% in the past decade.

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Some groups are more likely to experience poverty in later life. When we look at older renters as a group, staggeringly around 1 in 3 are in poverty. Looking at older lone female households, we find that over 1 in 5 are living in poverty. We also see poverty worsening as we move through the age bands beyond State Pension age.

On the horizon are further significant changes, including an ageing population and planned increases to the State Pension age, which may push many more older people into poverty and should ring a warning bell for decision-makers.

Applying the current poverty rate to Scotland’s population projections means we could see an additional 20,000 pensioners (180,000 in total) in poverty by the end of the next Scottish Parliamentary term in 2031.

We know the causes of pensioner poverty — they include inadequate social security payments, people not receiving their financial entitlements, high costs of energy, food and housing, and the exacerbation of poverty premiums through limited access to goods and services due to barriers in things like broadband and transport.

But we also know the policy solutions. These solutions span remits including social security, housing, food, and energy, and require action from government across the UK and Scotland. Alongside this, there is also a role for broader civil society, companies and regulators to play. Older people on low incomes need multi-faceted, cross-departmental and cross-sectoral action.

However, with a lack of strategic approach, or plan, pensioners are falling between the gaps in these policy remits and various levels of government.

This is why Independent Age is calling for candidates and parties standing in the Scottish Parliament to support our calls for a national Pensioner Poverty Strategy — the first in the UK — to systematically tackle the factors that cause, or exacerbate, poverty in older age.

It is vital that this strategy identifies and advances comprehensive and coherent policy changes, such as improving social security adequacy and uptake.

The strategy must be dynamic; laying out a method for the effective oversight of planning, implementation, monitoring, reporting and reviewing progress towards specified and agreed aims and targets.

Addressing pensioner poverty is possible — significant improvements have happened before and they can happen again.

The choices and plans made today will impact the lives, not only of current pensioners, but all of us as we age. We can tackle poverty in later life in Scotland now and make a fairer Scotland for all current and future generations.

Find more on our calls and research in Security not struggle: a manifesto to reduce pensioner poverty.

Help us push for improvements to later life and call on decision makers to take action ahead of the election in May by joining us as a campaigner.