‘Devastated’: Five-fold increase in women aged 60 and over claiming universal credit and out of work benefits

Exclusive: ‘It is outrageous universal credit offered me a telephone interview to join the army,’ 65-year-old woman says

Ms Thorpe says she had been offered me a telephone interview to join the army at the end of June despite being aged 65 but she quickly realised it was an error due to her being far too old to join the army (iStock)

The number of women aged 60 and over claiming universal credit and out of work benefits increased by almost five times in the last six years – with campaigners attributing this sharp rise to the state pension age increase.

The rise of women making claims for such benefits – which soared from 7,578 to 36,527 between 2013 and 2019 – was almost three times more than men who are aged 60 and over.

In the same time period the number of women aged 60 and over making benefit claims surged, there was an 11 per cent decrease in claims by the total population.

Almost four million women have been affected by the controversial state pension age rise from 60 to 66 for women born after March 1950. The move was accelerated in 2010 and saw them reach parity with men, at 65, in 2018.

Lindsey Thorpe, a 65-year-old who has been forced into claiming universal credit since being hit by the state pension age hike, told The Independent the pension rise had “devastated” her life.

Ms Thorpe, who lives in Cheshire, said the government did not inform her about the state pension age rising and school friends who were born in the same year were also totally oblivious to the change.

The former administrator, who previously worked in the higher education sector, said: “I felt frustrated and annoyed. Initially, they said 63. All of a sudden it jumped again to 65. And then it went up to 66. I never received a letter from the government saying my pension age was going up. I’ve lived here for 41 years so it can’t have gone to the wrong place.

“Learning the pension age had gone up was horrible. It puts you in a spin. I had two children. I was divorced. You don’t know where the next lot of money is going to come from and how you are going to cope. I was getting more and more in debt.

“I’ve only got around £400 savings but before the pension rise, I had £10,000 in savings which my dad left me when he died. I thought I had that as a cushion. Universal credit is around £50 week so not enough to live on. You have got to watch the heating bill. I know women hit by state pension age changes who go to food banks. I have been tempted. In lockdown, I’ve had to rely on family and friends to deliver food. I am not mobile enough to go myself and I’m worried about catching coronavirus.”

Since the coronavirus crisis, Lindsey is now getting £270 Universal Credit a month, £67 a week.

Ms Thorpe, who suffers from arthritis and has had two hip operations and one knee operation, said the Job Centre had “tried to throw jobs” at her in the last few months but she is not well enough to work.

She said she had been offered me a telephone interview to join the army at the end of June despite being aged 65 but she quickly realised it was an error due to her being far too old to join the army.

Ms Thorpe, who has been on universal credit for 18 months, added: “It is outrageous universal credit offered me a telephone interview to join the army. I just laughed at it. But it could have sent someone more vulnerable over the edge. They could have had a breakdown.

“The process of claiming universal credit is degrading. Every month, I go to the doctor and ask for a sick note which is now called a fit note. This is blue-sky thinking and their way of saying to doctors ‘Do you think they are fit to go to work?’, rather than ‘Are they sick enough to make claims?’”

Ms Thorpe said she would struggle to work due to mobility issues – adding that being forced to turn to benefits after having her state pension delayed had affected her mental health and made her increasingly “tearful”.

Responding to a request by The Independent on Ms Thorpe's situation, a DWP spokesperson said: “The Independent hasn’t provided us with the necessary details and permissions from the women featured in order for the department to look into their claims and have a fair reply to this story.”

She said she had spent her life “emotionally and financially” preparing to stop work at the age of 60 and it was “very unfair” for this to be changed at the eleventh hour.

BackTo60, a campaign group calling for full restitution for women hit by the state pension rise, lost its landmark High Court battle after taking the government to court over the pension hike, but are appealing the ruling in July.

Hannah Manzur, who conducted a report for the campaign group shared exclusively with The Independent which examines the socio-economic impact of coronavirus on women born in the Fifties, said: “The increase to women’s state pension age has not only pushed more women into low-paid and precarious work, but also forced many to rely on out of work benefits.

“Whilst millions of people in the UK have been pushed into state-benefit reliance, the ongoing economic hardship of 1950s-born women directly resulting from the state pension rise has left them particularly vulnerable to lockdown pressures on jobs as well as the expected economic fallout of the pandemic.”

Many women who were impacted by the state pension age have been forced to carry on working through the public health emergency despite being at risk of severe complications from the virus due to their age.

Fiona Mccall, a 65-year-old woman affected by the changes, told The Independent she had initially been due to get her pension at 62 but then it was moved to 63 before being pushed up to 66.

Ms Mccall, who lives on the Scottish borders near a market town called Kelso, said she was forced to retire in the late 1990s due to ill health. She has peripheral muscular atrophy and has been in a wheelchair for three years.

She said she was hit by “panic, worry, and anxiety” when learning of the state pension age rise – adding that she had been given no notice about the rise and discovered the change from watching the news and friends alerting her.

She added: “If you can’t make money, then you panic. I expected I would have my state pension by now but instead, I am having to wait another year. I started claiming universal credit in April. I had been on it for a short period in 2018. It is not enough to live on. I’ve had to cut back. I can buy basic vegetables and rice and pasta. But I can’t go on holiday.

“I really need to watch meeting up with friends, going out for meals, or going to the cinema. As things open up, these are things I can’t do. Universal credit always need more information and more evidence. Things I’ve already given them. Universal credit leaves you at the poverty line level. My annual income isn’t more than £12,000. And you have got that constant worry, that ongoing worry and anxiety.

“Even holidays in Britain become something that can’t be considered and are very limited. It suppresses your quality of life. You have to think about everything you're able to do and [you are] asked to account for everything you do when claiming universal credit. That feels curtailing and constraining. It feels very precarious. You are always thinking about what you are doing, what you are spending and where you can afford to go.”

Ms Mccall, who works part-time as a therapist and specialises in working with veterans going through PTSD, said she cannot afford to see some of her relatives who live in other parts of the UK due to fuel costs.

She said she had discovered a wasp’s nest in the garden this week and needs the council to come in to fix it but this costs £60 and it is likely to “knock out” her budget – meaning she may not have money for food and fuel for the car.

“There is no capacity for emergencies or sudden expected things,” Ms Mccall, who lives alone but has carers who visit to help her, added: “If I don’t have fuel then I can’t go to the shop. I live in a rural area so you have to drive somewhere to get to the shops.”