Pensioners relying solely on their state pension have less money to live off than most Brits spend on dinners out and drinks each week, reveals new research.
Virgin Money investigated the finances and spending habits of pensioners living off their state pension and found that the average OAP spends just £20.73 of their state pension a week on food and non-alcoholic drinks.
This compares to the £27.41 spent by the average Brit in bars and restaurants every week.
Over a fifth of pensioner households in the UK are living off this tight budget, which Jason Wyer-Smith from Virgin Money describes as a "pittance", with OAPs "barely managing to afford life's essentials like food and drink".
He hopes Virgin Money's findings will help encourage eight million people in the UK currently not putting anything towards their pension fund to think seriously about their pension plans.
These new figures come as A-Day fast approaches and the promise of a simplified pensions system. The new pension plans are being introduced on April 6th and the government's department for work and pensions hopes it will get more people investing in pension funds.
State pension barely makes ends meet, suggests new report
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State pension barely makes ends meet, suggests new report
Mon, 27 Mar 2006
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