‘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.