Warning over rising poverty among single pensioners

Mark Mansfield

Older people living alone are facing a growing risk of poverty, with new research showing the gap between single pensioners and couples has widened sharply.

The findings have prompted the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales, Rhian Bowen-Davies, to call for urgent action to support older people struggling financially, alongside longer-term reform of the pensions system.

A new paper by former pensions minister Steve Webb, now a partner at consultancy LCP, found that pensioner poverty began rising again in 2012/13 following years of improvement – with much of the increase driven by people who are single in retirement.

The latest corrected Department for Work and Pensions figures show 19.8% of single pensioners were living in relative poverty in 2024/25, compared with 11.2% of pensioners living as couples. The corresponding figures a year earlier were 16.5% and 10.5%.

The research also highlights significant changes in who is reaching retirement alone.

There are now around 1.5 million divorced people in retirement – three times the number in 2002 – while the number of pensioners who have never married has risen to around 800,000. Around two-thirds of single pensioners living in poverty are women.

The paper says divorce can leave people particularly vulnerable because pension rights are often not divided equally. Previous research cited in the report found that among divorcing couples where one or both had a pension they were not yet drawing, only 11% had made arrangements to share pension assets.

Ms Bowen-Davies said: “It is deeply concerning that poverty amongst older people continues to rise, as highlighted in the most recent data shared by former Pensions Minister Steve Webb.

“The findings of his paper reflect the findings shared in my own report on poverty published in November 2025, particularly the extent to which poverty impacts upon older women and single households, providing further evidence of why we need far greater action to tackle this issue.

“This is something I have consistently called for, given the well-known and significant risks to older people’s health, well-being and independence caused by poverty.”

The Commissioner’s own report found one in six older people in Wales was living in poverty, rising to one in four among women living alone.

It also found one in five older people had gone without heating, while a quarter had skipped meals or eaten less.

Ms Bowen-Davies said the Second Pensions Commission provided an opportunity to consider longer-term changes, including ensuring healthy life expectancy was taken into account when setting the State Pension age and recognising housing and other living costs when considering retirement incomes.

But she said older people already struggling could not wait for longer-term reforms.

She said: “This means making it easier for older people to claim all of the financial support they are entitled to and ending the Pension Credit ‘cliff edge’, which results in people missing out on help that can be worth thousands of pounds a year.

“It also means taking action to address the causes of poverty, such as significantly improving energy efficiency in people’s homes, something particularly important here given that Wales has some of the oldest housing stock in Europe.”

The Commissioner is also calling for the Welsh Government to establish a Resilience Fund providing emergency financial assistance to older people who are struggling but do not qualify for other support.

Her November report estimated cold homes alone cost the NHS in Wales more than £40m a year.

Pension reforms

The LCP paper suggests a series of possible pension reforms, including greater incentives for higher earners to contribute to their partner’s pension, pension-sharing rights following the breakdown of long-term cohabiting relationships and making joint-life annuities the default so a surviving partner continues receiving an income.

Ms Bowen-Davies said: “Tackling poverty shouldn’t be seen as a cost, but rather an investment, which would boost the health and well-being of hundreds of thousands of older people across Wales.

“That’s why I will continue to make the case for decisive, coordinated action both nationally and locally to tackle poverty, support older people and help create a fairer, healthier and more inclusive Wales.”

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