Hundreds dying 'in poverty' every year

Hundreds of people in Sunderland die “in poverty” every year, according to a leading end-of-life charity.

Marie Curie says it is "shocking" that more than 90,000 people nationally pass away while living in poverty annually and called for greater support with energy costs to all terminally ill people, regardless of their age, and the state pension to be given to dying people of working age so they do not miss out.

The estimates suggest that 561 people in Sunderland died in 2019 – the latest year for which data is available – having experienced poverty in the last year of their life – around 18% of the total number of deaths in the area.

Of the deaths in the city, 381 are estimated to be pensioners (15% of the group), and 180 working age (33%).

The national figure is made up of 68,000 pensioners and 25,000 working-age people, says the study, carried out by Loughborough University.

Marie Curie chief executive Matthew Reed said: “It cannot be right that terminally-illpeopleofworkingage miss out on their desperately-needed state pension simply because they are not 'old enough' when they die.

"No-one wants to imagine spending the last months of their life shivering in a cold home, struggling to feed themselves, theirchildren,andburdened withtheanxietyoffallinginto debt. But for 90,000 people a year that is their reality. Simply put, that is shocking."

The Department of Work and Pensions said those nearing the end of their lives can get fast-track access to a range of benefits without needingaface-to-faceassessment or waiting period.