Pensioners sleeping under 8 blankets in 'miserable' winter amid energy crisis
The energy crisis is still causing misery for the poorest pensioners left sitting in the cold during a “miserable” winter, Age UK warns.
Their new report warns that older people living in a household with an income of less than £20,000 per year with no benefits are suffering. The cost of living crisis, they say, is far from over: A 73-year-old woman told Age UK: “Our life this winter was miserable. I never thought I would get to 73 and forced to be freezing in our own home”.
Melanie Roberts, aged 71, lives on her own near Slaithwaite in West Yorkshire and has paid off the mortgage. But she still has to work as the state pension does not cover her basic outgoings. “I had hoped to have retired by now but if I want to stay warm I have to work,” she told The Mirror.
She now works 40-plus hours a week selling books and other items online As her property is off-grid, Melanie buys her gas in large bottles but the price of these has soared over the last few months from £60 to £110. “It’s hard going. I’ve lived here 38 years now and I don’t want to leave the place but as you get older it’s harder. I cut back, and I cut back. I cut back on anything I can. I keep my lights off to save on the electricity. I only use the microwave when I need to. I go to sleep with extra layers. I’m up to six to eight blankets right now. I really hate the snow.”
Being off-grid and buying her fuel in bulk has also meant she missed out on last year’s Cost of Living Payment. William, age 79, commented: “I have terminal cancer and live in an apartment. Although we only have two bedrooms and one living room, we frequently use blankets to keep warm rather than put the heating on. We still have bills that we have difficulty in meeting!” Almost a third (29%) of those over 60 in this group quizzed, report that their home was too cold most or all the time – compared to 21% of all people aged 60+.
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Almost half (49%) of them were worried about the impact of energy bills on their health, and 59% reported they are worried about their ability to heat their home. The research also found 47% were worried about being able to afford wider essentials like food. Many of these people, the report highlights, are likely to be eligible for support but will still be missing out for a whole variety of reasons. Government figures show that an estimated 800,000 pensioners are eligible for Pension Credit but are missing out on this much-needed support.
Caroline Abrahams CBE, Charity Director at Age UK said: “Over the past few years spiralling energy prices have made life extremely tough for older people who face hardship because of unavoidably high energy bills. Those on lower fixed incomes, and anyone living with disabilities or long-term health conditions have been hit particularly hard. Keeping warm at home is vital for a comfortable, happy, and healthy later life and something we thought we could all take for granted, but today it remains beyond the reach of millions of older people. Energy prices remain too high for many, and it seems there’s no prospect of a return to the much lower bills of a few years ago.
“The Government needs to face up to this reality, and to the distress and anxiety it is causing millions of older people, who now view each coming winter with dread…We must not sleepwalk into a situation in this country in which it is seen as ‘normal’ for an older person to have to shiver through the cold in their own home. If the Government brings in a funded social tariff for energy it can consign such misery to the past, and that’s what we think the Chancellor should do as part of his Spring Budget.”
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