Читать книгу Not Dead Yet: A Manifesto for Old Age - Julia Neuberger - Страница 39

Before we look too closely at the issue of poverty in old age, we ought to be honest with ourselves about how much richer, relatively speaking, older people have become over the last generation. The average net income of all pensioners (the technical term for older people, though not all actually get pensions) grew by 63 per cent in real terms between 1979 and 1996/7. During the same period, the average earnings in the whole economy grew by 36 per cent, which suggests an astonishing rise for older people, admittedly from a very low base.

The image of the poor pensioner was not inaccurate at the end of the 1970s, but the trend has been moving in the right direction. Older people’s average income has grown even faster than earnings over the last ten years. The net income for pensioner units grew by 29 per cent between 1996/7 and 2005/6, whilst average earnings have risen by a mere 16 per cent in real terms over the same period, just over half the rate for older people. There have been substantial increases in incomes from occupational pensions, investments and benefits over the last 25 years. Also, average net income after housing costs has risen faster than the net income before housing costs are included, and this is at least partly because so many more older people own their own homes. Some two thirds of households headed by pensioners are owned outright.