Inadequate state pension
Systemic issues leading to the State Pension being inadequate for many pensioners, causing financial difficulties and hardship.
Strongest theme matches
Mixed across source types and ranked by classifier confidence plus text match strength.
Committee recommendation
100match
#16 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
Based on the evidence we have received, there is a clear justification for providing additional social security support for those unable to keep working in the years approaching State Pension age. While pension age rises have been justified on grounds of fairness between generations— each generation should expect to spend a similar proportion of adult life contributing to...
Matched on
terms: inadequate, pension, state
Committee recommendation
100match
#2 - Thirty-Third Report - Underpayments of the State Pension
The Department’s complacency about the level of underpayments inherent in its approach to administering State Pension has led it to fail pensioners. The Department’s highly manual systems and complex State Pension rules has led to calculation errors and the underpayment of thousands of pensioners. The Department, however, argued that low annual error rates on State Pension led it...
Matched on
terms: inadequate, pension, state
Committee recommendation
100match
#33 - Many pensioners, including 2.1 million, rely on inadequate State Pension and experience hardship.
One in eight pensioners rely solely on the state pension and it makes up 80% of the retirement income of the poorest pensioners. The Minister for Pensions said to us that the State Pension formed the ‘bedrock of Government support’ for pensioners, yet we heard that many of those who rely on it are experiencing financial difficulties and...
Matched on
exact phrase
terms: inadequate, pension, state
Committee recommendation
95match
#2 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
The risk is that outcomes from these important reviews come too late for many reaching State Pension age in the next few years. The impacts of the rise to 67 will be very uneven. For many unable to keep working, particularly on low incomes and in the most deprived areas, it will mean hardship as they wait longer...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
95match
#3 - Thirty-Third Report - Underpayments of the State Pension
The Department has not given people who are worried they have been underpaid enough information to find out what they should do, with the risk that many may still miss out on money they should receive. The Department’s communications strategy is to only contact those who it finds have been underpaid under the State Pension regulations. Other groups...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
91match
#11 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
A further effect of the rise from 65 to 66 was an increase in employment, with the largest effects for those with the lowest educational attainment and those living in the most deprived areas. We were concerned to hear that, while later working is generally good for health when it is voluntary, this is not the case when...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
91match
#4 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
We agree with the Second Pensions Commission that current policy is not grounded in clear objectives for adequacy and that it would help guide future policy to define what ‘adequate’ means in a way that accurately represents pensioners’ financial resources across the income distribution. An adequacy objective would help guide future policy decisions, for example, as to how...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
87match
#22 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
It is concerning that people approaching State Pension age may need to draw on their pension savings to bridge the gap before they get their State Pension, rather than those savings being available into old age. There is a worrying lack of data to help understand the decisions those pre-pensioners on the lowest incomes are taking and the...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
87match
#18 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
We heard widespread support for this but less consensus on what form it should take. On balance we support increasing the level of Universal Credit (UC) for all recipients in the year before State Pension age because it has a greater impact in reducing poverty and hardship. We recommend it as a short-term approach, to mitigate the impact...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
87match
#15 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
We acknowledge government initiatives to address these challenges, including the Mayfield Review. However, as the Second Pensions Commission concluded, success will require a concerted effort across government and industry. We welcome the Minister for Pensions’ recognition that a cross- government approach is needed. This will take time and come too late for many affected by the rise in...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
87match
#14 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
We heard that many older workers struggle to continue in demanding jobs, sometimes to the detriment of their health. The ‘double jeopardy’ of ageism and disablism may mean they hesitate to request support and if they leave one job, may struggle to find another. For unpaid carers, the demands of that role can lead to them exiting employment...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
87match
#3 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
We recognise that there are challenges ahead, with an ageing population meaning rising costs in a tight fiscal environment. In future decisions, on the State Pension and other state entitlements for pensioners, it will be important for the government to balance sustainability, adequacy and fairness. The government refers to the State Pension as a foundation for 61 private...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
87match
#34 - Establish a plan to ensure State Pension adequacy for all, reviewing undermining system aspects.
Once an objective for the State Pension relating to adequacy has been agreed, the Government should put in place a plan for getting everyone to that level. The first step should be to review those aspects of the state pension and benefits system that undermine its adequacy for some pensioners. (Recommendation, Paragraph 167)
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
87match
#30 - State pension design and level significantly influence pensioner poverty and health outcomes.
We note evidence from the UK and internationally shows that the design and level of state pension benefits can have a significant impact on pensioner poverty, as well as improving health outcomes. (Conclusion, Paragraph 146)
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
86match
#17 - Thirty-Third Report - Underpayments of the State Pension
When we asked if the Department is able to provide greater clarity to those who think they may have been affected, the Department said that it cannot publish guidance for those who may have been underpaid, such as an online questionnaire, because it believes it cannot accurately cover all possible underpayment scenarios. It said it did not want...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
86match
#32 - Consult on State Pension objectives, aiming for dignified living standards and reducing pensioner inequality.
The pensions adequacy review should consult on objectives for the State Pension, taking account of adequacy, sustainability and fairness. Given that it is the core of the Government’s offer to pensioners, relied on by many pensioners on low incomes, a guiding principle should be that it provides the amount needed for a minimum, dignified, socially acceptable standard of...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
86match
#6 - Twenty-Sixth Report - The Department for Work and Pensions’ Accounts 2021–22 – Fraud and error in...
The Department’s efforts to correct the systemic underpayment of State Pension are too slow to meaningfully put things right. The Department now estimates that 237,000 pensioners have been underpaid a total of £1.46 billion in their State Pension. Despite these underpayments going back as far as 1985, the Department’s overall exercise to correct this issue is delayed from...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
83match
#17 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
We agree with the Minister that there are consequences to State Pension age increases which can, and should, be taken seriously. There is evidence that the longer wait for their State Pension will harm 66-year-olds unable 64 to keep working till 67. Government support for the transition must include introducing additional social security support for people unable to...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
83match
#10 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
We agree with the Minister that it is important to consider the distributional effects of State Pension age increases. The results are felt unevenly. We know that the last increase resulted in a more than doubling of poverty for 65-year-olds. The Minister told us that the government’s approach to the increase to 67 was focused on communication and...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
83match
#5 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
The government must work towards a sufficiently clear adequacy objective to guide its future decisions on State Pensions and state entitlements. It should say whether a State Pension that tries to avoid poverty but does not necessarily deliver adequacy, represents the extent of its ambitions. (Recommendation, Paragraph 29) Increase in the State Pension age
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
83match
#1 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
We welcome the fact that the government asked Dr Suzy Morrissey to balance fairness and sustainability in her independent review of the State Pension age and set up a Second Pensions Commission to make recommendations on broader questions of adequacy, fairness and sustainability to guide the long-term future of the pensions system. The range and scale of challenges...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
83match
#1 - Thirty-Third Report - Underpayments of the State Pension
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Work & Pensions on the issue of underpayments in State Pension1
Matched on
terms: pension, state
PHSO recommendation
83match
Women's State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues
We did not find that the sample complainants suffered an unremedied injustice because of maladministration in DWP's communication about the number of National Insurance qualifying years needed for a full State Pension. But it is possible others have lost opportunities to add qualifying years to their National Insurance record. We would have recommended DWP provides remedy in line...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
82match
#20 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
We acknowledge that this proposal would not go far enough to improve health outcomes for people who have had to leave work due to ill-health or caring responsibilities in their mid-60s. We should not be in this position. If the government had acted on the recommendation in our 2025 Pensioner Poverty report to update the impact assessment, this...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
82match
#19 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
We are disappointed that the Minister seemed disinclined to consider specific additional support to pre-pensioners. We are also disappointed at the lack of evidence-based policy-making that has been driving this and policy making more generally in the DWP. We recommend that the government think again and, as a minimum, consult on the proposal for an uplift in the...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
82match
#41 - State Pension age increases disproportionately impact deprived areas, raising pre-pensioner poverty levels.
The State Pension age is an important tool for containing the costs of the State Pension. However, improvements in life expectancy across the country have stalled. People living in the most deprived areas of the country have lower life expectancy and lower healthy life expectancy than people in less deprived areas. Increases in the State Pension age have...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
78match
#38 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
We are concerned that some individuals will have received inflated State Pension forecasts because these did not show deductions for contracting out. Some of them may have lost the opportunity to do things differently, for example, to continue working for longer or to save more. Individuals are asked to take responsibility to save for retirement and it is...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
78match
#33 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
More than 15 years on from its introduction, the government should commission and publish analysis of the impact of the mixed age couple rule on those affected and how this will change as the State Pension age rises to 67. This analysis should include: their risk of poverty; the 67 impact on their health and wellbeing; the extent...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
78match
#32 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
We remain concerned about the impact of the mixed age couple rule. There are gaps in our understanding of its impact on the living standards and health of the 70,000 households affected and how this might change as the State Pension age rises to 67. (Conclusion, Paragraph 129)
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
78match
#28 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
State Pension age rises risk exacerbating existing inequalities in health and lifetime earnings. This should be reflected in impact assessments on State Pension age rises but is not. (Conclusion, Paragraph 116)
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
78match
#25 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
The Secretary of State should make a statement confirming that healthy life expectancy is a relevant factor for State Pension age reviews under section 27 of the Pensions Act 2014. (Recommendation, Paragraph 109)
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
78match
#24 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
The 2011 and 2013 impact assessments of the increase to 67 are outdated and insufficient. They do not reflect recent increases in work-limiting ill- health or deepening inequality in healthy life expectancy. The previous government decided to proceed with the increase in 2023 but said it would keep the position of people unable to continue in work under...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
78match
#21 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
The Secretary of State’s own State Pension age review should consult on a longer-term approach to additional social security support for those unable to work to State Pension age. This should model the costs and benefits of different options, taking account of factors such as work incentives and the ‘downstream’ impact on demand for health and social care...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
78match
#13 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
The Minister for Pensions explained that the department’s plans to support the transition to State Pension age for the rise to 67 was to support older workers in the labour market, through initiatives such as WorkWell, Pathways to Work and the Mayfield Review. He did not have data on the likely impact of such measures. Since the impact...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
78match
#12 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
In response to this report, the department should commission research on the health impacts of later working from the State Pension age increase from 65 to 66. (Recommendation, Paragraph 61) 63
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
78match
#29 - Twenty-Sixth Report - The Department for Work and Pensions’ Accounts 2021–22 – Fraud and error in...
In our January 2022 report, we warned that, given the nature of underpayments identified, there was a risk that similar, unidentified errors existed in the State Pension caseload.60 In 2021–22 the Department identified several new groups of pensioners potentially affected by underpayment, the most significant relating to Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP). For people reaching State Pension age before...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
78match
#27 - Twenty-Sixth Report - The Department for Work and Pensions’ Accounts 2021–22 – Fraud and error in...
In January 2021 the Department launched an exercise to review around 400,000 cases ‘at risk’ of underpayment to confirm the extent of the issue and reimburse affected pensioners. The Department wrote to us in May 2022 explaining that it was on track to conclude the review of the original 400,000 cases by the end of 2023.52 But it...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
78match
#39 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
We recommend that DWP report on the decisions which led to some people receiving inflated State Pension forecasts, what it has learned from this and the actions it will take to prevent a repetition. The report should also set out how many people were affected by the error, its plans for compensation and 68 how it will communicate...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
78match
#36 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
We are concerned to hear that around one in five of those with a State Pension age of 67 may not have accurate awareness of this in time to make informed decisions about their retirement. We are also concerned at evidence that awareness is lower for certain groups—women, people with lower qualifications or lower levels of wealth, the...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
78match
#31 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
In response to this report, the department should explain: whether it accepts that pre-pensioner and pensioner poverty have a downstream impact, for example, on demand for health and social care services; how it will reflect this in its impact assessments and what discussions it has had with HM Treasury to ensure that its policies and its approach to...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
77match
#30 - Twenty-Sixth Report - The Department for Work and Pensions’ Accounts 2021–22 – Fraud and error in...
The NAO reported that the Department cannot rule out that there may be further groups of pensioners, as yet unidentified, that have been affected by a historic underpayment. It concluded that this was in large part because the Department had not set out plans to revise its control processes for State Pension cases to ensure that underpayments are...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
77match
#28 - Twenty-Sixth Report - The Department for Work and Pensions’ Accounts 2021–22 – Fraud and error in...
In our January 2022 report we were concerned that the Department had not given people who were worried that they had been underpaid enough information to find out what they should do, and that there was a risk that many would still miss out on money they should receive.55 In May 2022, the Department wrote to us to...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
77match
#2 - Women face systemic challenges and policy 'blind spots' in pension system design.
Improving pension outcomes requires an understanding of the systemic challenges. Of the groups at risk, we took most evidence on the position of women, who make up two-thirds (67%) of pensioners in poverty. Some positive steps have been taken to improve their pension outcomes: in particular, through the introduction of the new State Pension. However, there remain ‘blind...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
74match
#9 - 2nd Report - Transition to State Pension Age
The government must: • confirm that a core task for the Secretary of State’s State Pension age review, due by March 2029, will be to consider those groups on whom State Pension age increases have a disproportionately negative impact and the measures that are needed to mitigate that; and • publish the report of the third independent State...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
73match
#8 - Third Report - Protecting pension savers – five years on from the pension freedoms: Saving for...
People in generation X and older without access Defined Benefit pension saving will have had limited time to build up pension savings through auto-enrolment and are therefore at risk of not hitting their retirement adequacy targets. We recommend the Government should consult on a plan to address this challenge and report back to us by March 2023. According...
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
73match
#25 - Twenty-Sixth Report - The Department for Work and Pensions’ Accounts 2021–22 – Fraud and error in...
We examined the Department’s systemic underpayment of State Pension in January
Matched on
terms: pension, state
Committee recommendation
66match
#12 - Winter Fuel Payment changes created significant uncertainty and anxiety among older pensioners
Our predecessor Committee is amongst those that have criticised Winter Fuel Payments for being poorly targeted and a ‘blunt instrument’ for tackling fuel poverty. As a universal payment, WFP went to pensioners who did not need it, and its real terms value has dwindled over two decades since it was introduced. However, we heard very clearly that pensioners...
Matched on
terms: pension
Committee recommendation
66match
#1 - Pensioner poverty has risen since 2010, leaving millions below the Minimum Income Standard.
The reductions in pensioner poverty in the late 1990s and 2000s, with the introduction of Pension Credit, were a success. However, we are concerned that from 2010 rates started to rise again. And the latest data on living standards paints a bleak picture, with 2.8 million pensioners living in households below the Minimum Income Standard. No older person...
Matched on
terms: pension
Committee recommendation
65match
#39 - Rising number of private renting pensioners are at increased risk of poverty from Local Housing Allowance.
The Pensions Policy Institute expects the number and proportion of pensioners renting privately to grow from around 6% now to 17% in 2041. As many as 400,000 households could become dependent on means-tested benefits. Pensioners renting privately are already at risk of poverty, with the operation of the Local Housing Allowance a contributing factor. (Conclusion, Paragraph 184)
Matched on
terms: pension
Committee recommendation
57match
#4 - Require the pensions adequacy review to consider pension inequalities and poverty in retirement
The pensions adequacy review should consider pension inequalities, the groups who are more likely to live in poverty in retirement, and how this will be addressed. (Recommendation, Paragraph 30) 81 Impact on older people
Matched on
terms: pension