New research lays bare pensioners’ reliance on the winter fuel payment (Image: Getty)
Like me, you may have seen some silly media stories recently suggesting that older people typically don’t need their winter fuel allowance, so they spend the money on luxuries instead, like an eye-wateringly expensive bottle of .
That’s despite research from the highly respected Institute for Fiscal Studies showing that in fact, most pensioners direct the money towards related costs.
This IFS research is a few years old now, but new nationally representative polling carried out for Age UK and published this week strongly bears out its conclusions: it found that last winter more than three quarters of pensioners, equivalent to 9.2 million people, spent their on heating, hot water and running household appliances.
Worryingly, when the same polling asked older people what losing their would mean for them this winter, more than half said they’d have to turn down or reduce the hours they use heating at home — increasing to almost two thirds on low incomes.
In addition, a quarter said they would have to shower or bathe less and one in ten said they would be cooking fewer hot meals.
And this lands on the same day that we’re hearing 44,000 terminally ill cancer patients have also lost their WFP this winter.
With a challenging winter on the way for millions of pensioners following the brutal rationing of , if you think you may be eligible for — the main qualifying benefit — please do make a claim without delay.
If you are generally worried about your do tell your energy provider, who may be able to help.
The Household Support Grant administered by councils is another possible source of support — or of course, call Age UK for advice.
Meanwhile we will continue to campaign in support of every older person facing hardship this winter because of the Government’s unfair decision, and it’s not too late for the Chancellor to soften the blow.
Caroline Abrahams CBE is the Charity Director at Age UK