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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
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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

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