Our analysis shows that, each year, over 92,000 adults die before they can draw their pension. This figure will rise by thousands for every year the pension age increases. That means thousands more dying people and their families will lose out on this crucial benefit. The poorest in our society and those living in areas with low life expectancy and high working age poverty will be most badly affected. Nobody should die in poverty, and we are calling for change.
Lack of access to a vital protection
Pensions are of crucial importance to financial security, health and wellbeing in older age. Working age adults who die before reaching State Pension age are currently denied this benefit, despite their lifetime contributions.
Without access to a pension, many terminally ill people of working age rely on benefits as their only or main source of income and these benefits have not risen in line with inflation.
The blight of poverty on families affected by terminal illness
Marie Curie research has found that one in four people dying at working age were living in poverty in the last year of their lives.
Deteriorating health can lead to people reducing their work hours or having to stop working completely. Extra costs in the last year of life can be substantial, including home adaptations, transport to hospital and payment for care.
This means instead of being able to focus on their health and family, people are worrying about money – struggling to pay heating bills or the meter, cutting back on food or other essentials and having to borrow money to help fill the gaps.
Not only can this have a detrimental effect on health and worsen peoples' quality of life, but it can increase stress and anxiety for the person who's dying and their family. After the person's death, debts, financial hardship and the anxiety they cause can continue to blight the lives of bereaved carers, partners and children.
This should not be allowed to happen and the government review of State Pension age needs to take account of the financial security of terminally ill people dying at working age and their families.
Rising State Pension age will push many more dying people into poverty
For each year the pension age is increased, thousands more people will die without being able to access their pension.
In 2022, 1 in 7 deaths (14%) in the UK were of adults who died before they were able to access their pension at the age of 66 (excluding those who died from causes such as poisoning, injury, accidents or related to pregnancy and birth), equating to 92,000 people. State Pension age is due to rise to 67 in 2026/7, which will lead to an extra 7,700 individuals dying before receiving any of their pension.
With an increase to age 68, as currently proposed to happen between 2041 and 2043, an extra 15,800 people per year compared to today would be denied their pension before they died. This would equate to 108,000 people each year.
Pension age rises will not be felt equally
Although the percentage of people dying before State Pension age is comparable across the UK nations, it varies across local areas, reflecting factors such as levels of deprivation as well as population age structure. For example, in 2022, just under 9% of deaths occurred under the age of 66 in Dorset, 22% in Manchester and in London boroughs such as Haringey this figure was over 25%. Similar disparities exist in each nation: Scotland (highest deaths under age 66 in Glasgow City, 22%), Northen Ireland (18% in Derry City and Strabane) and Wales (17% in Torfaen). Rising State Pension age should be of particular concern for these areas, as areas with a high proportion of deaths before the age of 68 also have higher poverty rates among working age people. In fact, Marie Curie research has found levels of poverty are much higher among working age people in their last 12 months of life (28%) than those living longer than 12 months (21%). Groups experiencing greater risk of poverty earlier in life are more likely to also die in poverty, for instance, working age people from minoritised ethnic groups are two thirds more likely to die in poverty than working age white ethnic groups.
Data sources: adult deaths by selected underlying causes provided by Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Authority (2022); poverty at working age from Marie Curie Dying in Poverty project (2019).
Marie Curie's call for access to the State Pension and other benefits
The impact of an increase in State Pension age will therefore be felt disproportionately in areas of higher deprivation in the UK and among already disadvantaged groups. The hardships caused for individuals affected by a rise in State Pension age will not only be felt by those dying in poverty but their dependents and families. As people living with terminal illness in working age are twice as likely to die in poverty than older people, without mitigating action, increases in the State Pension age will increase the number of people who die whilst living in poverty.
Marie Curie is calling on the government to give all dying people access to their State Pension and other pensioner benefits, no matter their age.
