Boost for the baby boomers as retirement incomes triple

RETIRED households receive almost three times more income than they did 40 years ago, figures showed yesterday.

The glaring divide between baby boomers – retiring with generous final salary pensions – and millions of working households was highlighted by the Office for National Statistics.

Pensioners enjoyed a golden era between 1977 and 2016 as their incomes nearly tripled in real terms, but only doubled for working households.

Those who have reached retirement have never been wealthier, with 96 per cent of households having disposable income after taxes and household bills of more than £10,000 a year. In 1977, just over a fifth (21 per cent) of retired households fell into this category.

The figures have all been adjusted for inflation.

Former pensions minister Baroness Altmann said the latest generation of pensioners have ‘hit the jackpot’.

The ONS report reveals income before tax more than doubled for workers from £20,200 in 1977 to £41,900 last year. But it has almost tripled for pensioner households from £10,500 to £29,000. This rapid growth has been driven by wealth from work and private pensions.