Briefing Notes

Briefing Note 88 - Have pensioners’ incomes grown in this period of austerity?

There has been a growing focus on differences in trends in living standards between various age groups. The pensioner group has experienced greater increases to their median income than other age group. The experience of the individuals who make up this distribution, however, are far more varied.

Using longitudinal data, incomes can be tracked over time and the experience of individuals can be analysed. This Briefing Note examines the variation of the changes to income for different groups of pensioners between 2007-08 and 2014 -15. It also assesses some of the factors that account for these changes.

The note finds that median income of the pensioner group has increased substantially over the period, at a faster rate than other age groups,however this is largely due to new pensioners having a higher income than existing pensioners.