More Help Needed for Elderly UK Residents
Rising fuel prices is causing financial difficulty for many of the elderly residents of the UK. According to Age Concern and Help the Aged, it is time for the government to sit up and take notice of the problems that this sector of the population is encountering in trying to cope with the current recession.
According to a survey conducted by this organization, it was revealed that many UK pensioners had to resort to cutting back on food and other essentials in order to cope with the higher payments for fuel and electricity this past winter.
In addition to the high fuel prices, food prices have risen significantly, especially in the line of imported foods. The survey showed that at least 22% of those aged 60 and over have not been eating proper meals in order to save money for other needs.
Michelle Mitchell, a spokesperson for the charitable organization stated, “Many older people are being clobbered by high prices and are being pushed to extreme measures to cope financially – the government cannot sit by while older people skip meals and put their health at risk.”
She went on to say, “The state of the economy is the defining issue of our times and this year’s Budget will have many demands on it. But the challenge to government is to ensure that older people, and older voters, are not forgotten.”
In addition to cutting back on the amount and type of food they buy, about 42% of the elderly have also curtailed the amount of socializing that they do. They are also cutting back on their electricity use in an effort to save on expenses.
Many people who retired in the past few years were looking forward to a leisurely retirement. One of those interviewed, Bob Henderson of Carmlington in Northumberland, retired after running his own business for years. He and his wife had investments that they assumed would allow them to live comfortably, but the drop in the stock market caused the investments to take a severe plunge and cut into the amount of money they had available to spend.
The Hendersons are receiving a state pension, but this is not enough to allow them the necessities of life. Mr. Henderson said that the things they once took for granted are now out of their reach. Instead of buying a bottle of wine along with their groceries, they now search out the sales and specials and buy what they can afford.
He is angry about the meagre amount of pension he receives from the government and said ,”We are not on the breadline, but we do feel the pinch. We know people who have had to carry on working to survive. I would hate to be in the position of trying to cope with credit when on a pension.”
The Age Concern and Help the Aged charity is urging the government to take the elderly of the nation into consideration when they prepare the annual budget. In anticipation of this event, they have sent a wish list of what they would like to see included.
This list includes such things as:
- speedy and automatic benefits to the elderly
- assistance for those who have savings being eroded by lower interest payments
- improvement of energy efficiency in homes
- maintenance of fuel payments during the winter months when costs are higher
- an extra £1billion in funds for councils to provide increased care services
