Pensioners’ incomes have soared 13 PER CENT since the credit crisis while the rest of Britain has suffered a squeeze
It means the income for working households is still 1.2 per cent below the pre-downturn peak
PENSIONER’s incomes have soared 13 PER CENT since the credit crisis while the rest of Britain has suffered a squeeze.
Official figures have placed fresh pressure on Theresa May to axe guaranteed benefit hikes for OAPs as they revealed a nation of “haves and have nots”.
The Office for National Statistics said the average income for retired households has leapt £2,500 to £21,770 since 2007-2008 – a 13 per cent jump.
Their spending power rose 3.1 per cent alone in 2015-2016.
But working households are still taking home £300 or 1.2 per cent less than eight years ago – an average of £28,481.
And the figures revealed the typical OAP income is now THREE TIMES the levels since in the late 70s.
Experts put the huge divide down to the Government’s Triple Lock – which guarantees OAPs a minimum 2.5 per cent increase in the basic state pension age each year.
Britain’s oldies have also seen a rise in the return from annuities and investments.
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ONS senior statistician Claudia Wells said: “Household incomes are above their pre-downturn peak overall, but not everyone is better off.
“While retired households’ incomes have soared, non-retired households still have less money on average than before the crash.”
The figures came just 24 hours after the PM vowed to heal the divisions between the prosperous older generation and struggling young in her ‘shared society’ speech.
The Sun’s Ditch Handouts to the Rich campaign has already called for wealthy OAPs to be stripped of their free TV licences and winter fuel payments.
Alistair McQueen head of savings at insurer giant Aviva yesterday said yesterday’s figures would spark fresh calls for action.
He said: “Today’s data is a tale of the haves and the have nots – when comparing retired and non-retired households.
“Rising incomes in retirement is a good thing, however the divergent experiences of the retired and non-retired will place increasing political pressure on the triple lock.”
Yesterday’s figures separately showed that income inequality between rich and poor was now at its lowest level since the mid to late 1980s –in part because of the boost to pensioner spending power.
Incomes for the poorest 20 per cent in the country rose 5 per cent or £700 last year to £13,600 – helped by the National Living Wage and increase in the personal tax allowance for the lowest paid.
The richest suffered a £1,000 fall to £53,400.
In a statement Chancellor Phillip Hammond said: “Our reforms to the tax system mean hard-working people are keeping more of what they earn.
“Increases to the personal allowance have taken millions out of income tax altogether and reduced tax bills for some of the lowest earners by £1,000 a year.”