Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T23:53:17.406Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Current and Future Incomes for Older People

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2018

Sandra Hutton
Sandra Hutton*
Affiliation:
Social Policy Research Unit, University of YorkY01 5DD
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Income in retirement does not normally feature in national headlines, but scandals such as the misuse of the company pension fund by Robert Maxwell, and the financial advice given to join personal pension schemes have done just that. The ‘demographic time bomb’ has become a media cliché. In this first of two reviews of the incomes and financial circumstances of older people we examine the influence of these headlines and clichés on present and future incomes. To set the scene, the current levels and sources of income for older people are outlined and compared with those of the younger population. The following section describes the trends and changes in pensioners’ incomes and what has influenced these trends. The next sets out the main issues in providing a secure income in old age, and finally the current policy debate is reviewed and some questions are identified for re-examination in two years’ time.

Type
Progress Report
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 16 , Issue 6: Special Issue: Ageing, Biography and Practice , November 1996 , pp. 775 - 787
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

SirAnson, John 1996. Pensions 2000 and Beyond: The Report of the Retirement Income Inquiry, Volume 1, The Retirement Income Inquiry, London.Google Scholar
Atkinson, A. B. 1994. State Pensions for Today and Tomorrow, Discussion Paper WSP/104, The Welfare State Programme, Suntory-Toyota International Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines, London School of Economics, London.Google Scholar
SirBeveridge, William 1942. Social Insurance and Allied Services, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Central Statistical Office 1995. Family Spending, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Commission on Social Justice 1994. Social Justice: Strategies for National Renewal, Vintage, London.Google Scholar
Creedy, J. and Disney, R. 1988. The new pension scheme in Britain. Fiscal Studies, 9, 2, 59–71 Google Scholar
Davies, B. and Ward, S. 1992. Women and Personal Pensions, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Department of Health 1996. A New Partnership for Care in Old Age: A Consultation Document, Cmnd 3242, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Department of Health and Social Security 1981. Growing Older, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Department of Social Security 1994a. Households Below Average Income, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Department of Social Security 1994b. Personal Pension Statistics 1991/92, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Department of Social Security 1995. Social Security Statistics 1995, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Dilnot, A. and Johnson, P. 1992. What pension should the state provide? Fiscal Studies, 13, 4, 1–19 Google Scholar
Dilnot, A., Disney, R., Johnson, P. and Whitehouse, E. 1994. Pensions Policy in the UK: An Economic Analysis, Institute for Fiscal Studies, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downs, C. 1996. Book review, Citizen's Income, Bulletin 2, 20–21.Google Scholar
Drucker, P. F. 1995. The Pension Fund Revolution, Transaction, London.Google Scholar
Elias, P. and Gregory, M. 1994. The Changing Structure of Occupations and Earnings in Great Britain: An Analysis Based on the New Earnings Survey Panel Data Set, Institute of Education, Employment Department, Warwick.Google Scholar
Falkingham, J. 1988. Dependency and ageing in Britain: a re-examination of the evidence. Journal of Social Policy, 18, 2, 211–233.Google Scholar
Falkingham, J. and Hills, J. (eds) 1995. The Dynamic of Welfare: The Welfare State and the Life Cycle, Prentice Hall, New York.Google Scholar
Falkingham, J. and Johnson, P. 1993. A Unified Funded Pension Scheme (UFPS) for Britain, Discussion Paper WSP/90, The Welfare State Programme, Suntory-Toyota International Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines, London School of Economics, London.Google Scholar
Field, F. and Owen, M. 1993. Private Pensions for All: Squaring the Circle, Discussion Paper No. 16, Fabian Society, London.Google Scholar
Gibbs, I., and Kemp, P. 1992. Income, Housing Tenure and Housing Benefit in Later Life, Discussion Paper No. 1, Centre for Housing Policy, University of York, York.Google Scholar
Ginn, J. and Arber, S. 1994. Heading for hardship: how the British pension system has failed women. In Baldwin, S. and Falkingham, J. (eds), Social Security and Social Change, Harvester Wheatsheaf, London.Google Scholar
Glennerster, H. 1995. The life cycle: public or private concern. In Falkingham, J. and Hills, J. (eds) The Dynamic of Welfare, Prentice Hall, New York.Google Scholar
Goode, R. (Chairman) 1993. Pension Law Reform, Volumes I and II, Report of the Pension Law Reform Committee, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Government Actuary's Department 1990. National Insurance Fund Long Term Financial Estimates, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Groves, D. 1991. Women and financial provision in old age. In MacLean, M. and Groves, D. (eds), Women's Issues in Social Policy, Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Hancock, R. and Weir, P. 1994. More Ways Than Means: A Guide to Pensioners’ Incomes in Great Britain During the 1980s, Age Concern Institute of Gerontology, King's College London, London.Google Scholar
Hawkes, C. and Garman, A. 1995. Perceptions of Non-State Pensions, In-House Report 8, Social Research Branch, Analytical Services Division, Department of Social Security, London.Google Scholar
Hutton, S. and Williams, J. 1993. Survivors’ Benefits, Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, York.Google Scholar
Hutton, S. 1994. Incomes and assets of older people. Ageing and Society, 13, 427–435.Google Scholar
Hutton, S., Kennedy, S. and Whiteford, P. 1995. Equalisation of State Pension Ages: The Gender Impact, Research Discussion Series No. 10, Equal Opportunities Commission, Manchester.Google Scholar
Johnson, P. 1996. Review, Journal of Social Policy, 25, 2, 283–284.Google Scholar
Johnson, P. and Falkingham, J. 1992. Ageing and Economic Welfare, Sage, London.Google Scholar
Johnson, P., Dilnot, A., Disney, R. and Whitehouse, E. 1992. Income: Pensions, Earnings and Savings in the Third Age, Research Paper No. 2, Carnegie Inquiry into the Third Age, Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, Dunfermline, Fife.Google Scholar
Johnson, P., , Disney, R., and Stears, G., 1995. Pensions: 2000 and Beyond. Volume 2, Analysis of Trends and Options, The Retirement Income Inquiry, London.Google Scholar
Johnson, P. and Stears, G. 1996. Should the basic state pension be a contributory benefit? Fiscal Studies, 17, 1, 105–112.Google Scholar
Joshi, H. and Davies, H. 1991. The Pension Consequences of Divorce, Discussion Paper Series No. 550, Centre for Economic Policy Research, London School of Economies, London.Google Scholar
Joshi, H., Dale, A., Ward, C. and Davies, H. 1994. Dependence and Independence in the Finances of Women Aged 33, Family Policy Studies Centre, London.Google Scholar
McKay, S. 1992. Pensioners’ Assets: A Review of the Evidence, Policy Studies Institute, London.Google Scholar
National Association of Pension Funds 1994. Securing the Future, National Association of Pension Funds, London.Google Scholar
Oldfield, N., Thirlway, M., Nelson, M. and Hutton, S. 1995. Modest-hut-Adequate Budgets for Four Pensioner Households, Family Budget Unit and Age Concern England, London.Google Scholar
Pensions Management Institute 1993. Pensions and Divorce, Report of the Working Group on Pensions and Divorce, Pensions Management Institute, London.Google Scholar
Phillipson, C. 1991. Inter-generational relations: conflict or consensus in the 21st century. Policy and Politics, 19, 1, 27–36.Google Scholar
Smeaton, D. and Hancock, R. 1995. Pensioners’ Expenditure: An Assessment of Changes in Living Standards igyg-iggi, Age Concern Institute of Gerontology, King's College London, London.Google Scholar
Social Security Advisory Committee 1994. State Benefits and Private Provision, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Townsend, P. and Walker, A. 1995. The Future of Pensions: Revitalising National Insurance, Discussion Paper No. 22, Fabian Society, London.Google Scholar
Walker, A. (ed.) (1996). The New Generational Contract, UCL Press, London.Google Scholar
Walker, R., Hardman, G. and Hutton, S. 1989. The occupational pension trap: towards an empirical specification. Journal of Social Policy, 18, 4, 575–593.Google Scholar
Whiteford, P. and Kennedy, S. 1995. Incomes and Living Standards of Older People, Research Report No. 34, Department of Social Security, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Wilson, G. 1993. Money and independence in old age. In Arber, S. and Evandrou, M. (eds) Ageing, Independence and the Life Course, Jessica Kingsley, London.Google Scholar
Williams, T. and Field, J. 1993. Pension Choices: A Survey of Personal Pensions in Comparison with Other Pension Options, Research Report No. 22, Department of Social Security, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar