Ageing Better reveals the gulf between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ of people in their 60s
The number of people at risk of financial insecurity in their 60s will break past the two million mark for the first time within the next decade unless the UK Government takes urgent action, a new report from the Centre for Ageing Better is warning.
The charity’s new Tale of Two 60s report also reveals that certain characteristics make it much more likely for some people to be financially insecure in their 60s including women, single people, carers, people in poor health and people from a racially minoritised background.
The Tale of Two 60s report from the Centre for Ageing Better highlights a growing divide within this age group with more than a quarter of people (29%) aged 60–69, totalling around 1.8 million people, classified as being in precarious circumstances characterised by financial insecurity.
Seventy-one per cent in the age group are relatively financially secure, benefiting from pensions, savings, property and stable incomes.The report is warning that a quarter of a million more people are set to become financially precarious by 2033 without government intervention.
The number of financially precarious in their 60s has increased by around 200,000 over the past 20 years.The research highlights how the financially precarious are significantly more likely to hold certain characteristics.
People in financially precarious circumstances were also found to be three times more likely to be caring for a friend or family member, and almost 10 times more likely to be receiving state benefits than the secure.
On the other hand, owning a home outright with no mortgage, being the expectant beneficiary of an inheritance and being a member of a private pension scheme were all twice as likely among members of the financially secure compared to the precarious.
Research also reveals that many people in financially precarious circumstances experience sudden shocks in their late 50s or 60s, such as business failure, ill-health or relationship breakdown, that they were unable to recover from which led to increased debt, reliance on benefits and worsening living standards.
Other financial shocks that were difficult to recover from include moving back to the UK from overseas and costly house repairs.
The research challenges the perception that people in their 60s are generally financially secure and approaching retirement from a stable position. Instead, a significant minority are living with insecurity and are highly vulnerable to changes in their circumstances.
Henry Allingham, Research and Evaluation Manager at the Centre for Ageing Better, commented: “Over the past two decades, policy changes have reshaped the landscape of pensions and work in later life. Increases to the state pension age, the introduction of auto-enrolment, greater pension freedoms, and the end of forced retirement have all encouraged people to work longer. But for many in a financially precarious situation, the expectation that they will work longer is unrealistic given their health, caring responsibilities or other barriers to work.“
People in their 60s today are more diverse, more highly educated, and more likely to live alone than people in their 60s two decades ago. However, high levels of poor health and activity-limiting illness remain broadly unchanged, while healthy life expectancy has declined in recent years. This presents a fundamental challenge to policies encouraging longer working lives, as many people face health barriers that limit their ability to remain in work.
“Facing these challenges is often an unavoidable fact of life. However, being driven into financial hardship as a result can be avoided if structures exist to prepare people and support them when challenges arise. The challenges for people in their 60s that this report highlights are not inevitabilities. Barriers to good work and retirement can and must be tackled for those in their 60s now, and in the future, and this needs to be a much higher priority for government to address than it is currently.”
