ONS: Oldest spend nearly 40% on living expenses

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ONS: Oldest spend nearly 40% on living expenses

Wed 28th Jan 2009

Figures released recently by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) have revealed that the oldest pensioners spend nearly 40 per cent of their income on essential living costs.

Households headed by someone over the age of 75 spent nearly 40 per cent of their weekly outgoing of £218 on food, heating costs and council tax in 2007.

The ONS report, entitled Pension Trends, showed that households headed by those between the ages of 65 and 74 spent nearly 30 per cent of their average expenditure on essentials.

In the report, the ONS said: "Average incomes conceal considerable variations between poorer and richer pensioners. In 2006-7, the top 20 per cent of pensioner couples received 3.8 times the income of the bottom 20 per cent."

Recently, Age Concern called for the government to include measures targeting the poorest pensioners as part of their economic stimulus packages, as the charity claimed they would be hit hardest by the credit crunch.

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