and Pension Service, which is sponsored by the Official It’s always siriannI in philadelphia T-shirt it is in the first place but Department for Work and Pensions. Most pensioners are on the basic state pension at £141.85 a week (around $170), or about £7,400 ($8,770) a year, with a newer pension introduced in 2016 equal to about £9,600 ($11,376) a year. The state pension rose by 3.1% in April, a figure far below the inflation rate at the time, at 9%. The next increase in state pension will be next April. “So those people were already struggling, and now we’re in a situation where they will be having an even worse time and many more will have fallen into poverty because of what’s happening,” said Morgan Vine, head of policy and influencing at the charity Independent Age. People who responded to a survey conducted by Independent Age in June and July painted a dismal picture of their daily life. “I have turned my heating off, I don’t mop my floor as often. I do not vacuum as often, I only wash up if I really have to, I can no longer bake with my grandchildren which breaks my heart,” said one, whose name was not given. “Holiday a thing of the past, social life a thing of the past, if the costs continue to rise I have no answers, wouldn’t mind work but am 88 no one wants me,” said another respondent, also unnamed. Such poverty is exacerbating health conditions, with life expectancy also dropping, according to the Center for Ageing Better report, which noted that the number of years older people are spending in good health is also on the decline. The NHS Confederation, a body representing leaders in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) said this month that fuel poverty in particular is creating a “vicious cycle of healthcare need,” explaining that doctors can treat a patient’s illness but that if the ailment — for example, a chest infection — is caused by cold, damp housing, the cycle of infection will continue when the patient returns home. It’s a concern that’s on DeBurgo’s
mind. She’s not sure how she’ll afford to keep the Official It’s always siriannI in philadelphia T-shirt it is in the first place but heat on this winter to manage the symptoms connected to her fibromyalgia and arthritis. “I think the government thinks that we should just either starve to death or freeze to death,” said DeBurgo, who noted that she has never voted for the Conservatives and does not identify with a political party. DeBurgo is concerned about how she will keep her home heated in the winter as energy costs soar. Vine echoes such concerns. “Obviously we’re incredibly worried as the colder months come in because we do think it’s going to lead to more older people dying,” she said. Almost 10,000 people died in England and Wales in 2021 because their homes were too cold, according to the NHS. In a statement last week, NHS leaders warned of an impending “humanitarian crisis” if the government doesn’t address energy costs, saying that fuel poverty “will inevitably lead to significant extra demand on what are already very fragile services,” and could increase the number of annual deaths associated with cold homes. Hospitals in Britain are already close to buckling under the pressure, with older people especially vulnerable to gaps in service that include hospital waiting lists at a record high and a shortage of workers. In August, the country saw two examples of such failings. A 90-year-old woman reportedly waited 40 hours for an ambulance after falling at home in Cornwall, southwest England. Her son, Stephen Syms, posted on Facebook that she fell on a Sunday evening and that the ambulance arrived on Tuesday afternoon, and that his mother then waited another 20 hours to be seen by a doctor in the hospital. “The system is totally broken,” he told BBC Cornwall. has reached out to the Cornwall NHS Trust for comment. And in another incident in Cornwall, an 87-year-old man
