Incomes of retired people soared in recent years, according to official report

RETIRED HOUSEHOLDS’ incomes have soared in recent years, while those of a working age still have less money than they did before the economic downturn, according to an official report.

A typical UK household’s disposable income was £26,300 in 2015-16 – £600 higher than the previous year and about £1,000 higher than the pre-downturn peak in 2007-08, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

But while retired households are about £2,500 or 13 per cent better off than they were in 200708, non-retired households are still about £300 or 1.2 per cent worse off. The report said retired households’ incomes remained “considerably lower” than that of non-retired households. However, retired households have seen faster growth in their incomes, adjusted for inflation, over recent years.

By 2015-16, the typical income of retired households had nearly tripled compared with levels in the late 1970s, to reach £21,800 – 2.8 times what it was in 1977. At £28,500, the income of nonretired households has doubled from its 1977 levels.

The ONS said the growth in the incomes of retired households since 2007-08 has been driven by rises in the amounts of pension being received. Meanwhile, the fall in the average disposable income for non-retired households after the economic downturn largely reflected a fall in income from employment, including selfemployment, the report said.

Claudia Wells, of the ONS, said: “Household incomes are above their pre-downturn peak overall but not everyone is better off. While retired households’ incomes have soared in recent years, non-retired households still have less money, on average, than before the crash.”