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Independent Age publishes inaugural Older People’s Wellbeing Index

  • Area of Work: The ALLIANCE
  • Type: News Item
  • Published: 4th April 2025

Independent Age’s Older People’s Economic Wellbeing Index: Scotland 2024–25 is a nationally representative poll of people aged 66 and over.

Independent Age has published their Older People’s Economic Wellbeing Index: Scotland 2024–25 report. This is the first edition in an annual series of nationally representative polling designed to deliver further understanding of the financial wellbeing and lives of people in Scotland who are of State Pension age.  

With the number of pensioners in poverty in Scotland increasing by 25% over the past decade – now at 150,000 – the Older People’s Economic Wellbeing Index provides a deeper insight into the financial wellbeing of older people in Scotland today. The reality uncovered demonstrates the scale of the income, costs and housing pressures faced by older people living on a low income across Scotland.

  • One in five (19%) older people in Scotland have a household income of under £15,000 a year.
  • Just one in five (21%) older people say the State Pension is enough to cover basic living expenses.
  • Half of older people have cut back on heating/utilities, rising to 83% of older people with an income of less than £15,000.
  • Almost a third of older people have skipped meals due to financial pressures.
  • 1 in 4 (24%) say their housing costs are becoming unaffordable.

The proportion of the population over State Pension age is predicted to rise in Scotland, from 19% in 2022 to 23% by 2040. Applying the current rate of poverty (15%) to this increased population would mean around 190,000 pensioners being in poverty by 2040.

Some groups are disproportionately impacted – with women, people with caring responsibilities, or people who live with a health condition more likely to have cut back on essentials, have a lower income or more difficulty affording housing costs.    

Pensioner poverty is not inevitable – it can be tackled through political choices. The time for action is now.

Read the full report here.

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