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How important are state transfers for reducing poverty rates in later life?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 July 2015

DEBORA PRICE ,
KAREN GLASER ,
JAY GINN  and
MALCOLM NICHOLLS
DEBORA PRICE*
Affiliation:
Institute of Gerontology, Department of Social Science, Health & Medicine, King's College London, UK.
KAREN GLASER
Affiliation:
Institute of Gerontology, Department of Social Science, Health & Medicine, King's College London, UK.
JAY GINN
Affiliation:
Institute of Gerontology, Department of Social Science, Health & Medicine, King's College London, UK.
MALCOLM NICHOLLS
Affiliation:
Department for Work and Pensions, London, UK. Institute of Gerontology, School of Social Science and Public Policy, King's College London, UK.
*
Address for correspondence: Debora Price, Institute of Gerontology, Department of Social Science, Health and Medicine, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK E-mail: debora.price@kcl.ac.uk
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Abstract

Financial welfare in later life is of prime concern as the funding of pensions and care rises up policy agendas. In this context, work and family histories are well known to impact on late-life income, generally reducing state and private pensions for women. In a political context where benefits are under threat as part of the retrenchment of the welfare state, we consider two key questions. First, how do state pension and benefit transfers interact with work and family histories to reduce poverty risks in later life? Second, who is kept out of poverty by state benefits and transfers? Using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, we examine how work, family and health histories are associated with poverty in later life and estimate how far and in what ways state pensions, income support and disability benefits play a mediating role. We conclude that state support is key to maintaining incomes above official poverty lines for substantial numbers whose work, family and health histories would otherwise have led to their incomes falling below these lines. While disability benefits are designed to compensate for the additional costs of disability, it is likely that many in receipt experience poverty (even though they are not captured in official poverty statistics); even more so for those incurring the costs of disability but not in receipt of these benefits.

Keywords

povertylifecourseolder peoplestate benefitsdisability benefitsEnglish Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)pensions
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 36 , Issue 9 , October 2016 , pp. 1794 - 1825
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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