As we launch the next phase of our Life Chances Campaign on tackling pensioner poverty, EECF’s Head of Grants, Allan Anderson, explains why we’re focusing on benefits uptake and digital inclusion.
Sadly, pensioner poverty is on the increase, and from our research, we know that its much higher across London’s East End than the rest of the country – a whopping 26% above the UK average. And for pensioners living on their own, poverty levels are still higher. Even before the cost of living crisis emerged, tens of thousands of older people were every day having to choose between heating their homes and eating, and with freezing winter here, this places them at even greater risk from respiratory conditions and hypothermia.
At the same time, there are huge levels of benefits going unclaimed across the country. Feedback from our community organisations tells us that older people are much less likely to access benefits than working age people. They are unsure what benefits they can access, have difficulty completing application forms or knowing what information to provide.
Just watch our latest short film below on tackling pensioner poverty to see for yourself.
This anecdotal evidence is backed up by research. According to Policy in Practice, in 2020/21 over £32 million went unclaimed in pension credits across Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and the City of London.
This is why we are working in partnership with Island Advice Centre to provide benefits advice training to key voluntary organisations in Tower Hamlets who support older people. This will allow their frontline workers to give benefits advice directly to the older people they already support, and help them to access the benefits they are entitled to.
We know that one of the barriers to accessing benefits is not having internet access and when it comes to digital technology, older people are far more likely to be digitally excluded. In fact, in Tower Hamlets nearly half of those aged 65 and over lack essential digital skills and have no access to the internet. Research that will be published later this year shows that older people fear digital technology is removing face-to-face services and that by going online they will lose the personal connection that is so vital in tackling isolation. Yet the internet and digital technology are now firmly at the heart of how individuals engage in public, economic and social life with tasks such as changing utility providers, shopping, banking, and accessing benefits moving online.
That’s why as well as investing in front-line organisations supporting older people, we’ve also launched an open grants programme so that voluntary and community groups can provide the essential training and access to digital devices and the internet that older people so desperately need.
This is not to replace services, but to complement activities such as support groups, lunch clubs and home visits. It is to both help older people understand how being digitally active can be beneficial and to inform us how pensioners make best use of the internet – whether that be managing finances, finding out about local services, increasing ways of socialising, supporting leisure activities or hobbies, or even downloading podcasts and watching television. The grants are being piloted in Tower Hamlets with a view to rolling funding out across the East End later this year.
Tackling pensioner poverty is the third strand of our Life Chances Campaign.
Earlier this year we launched our ‘Brighter futures for young People’ campaign which funds front-line organisations to support wellbeing and work for young people and they are already making a big difference supporting young people’s mental health, personal skills and their journey to employment. We’re also continuing our vital partnership ‘Connecting Communities’ to close the digital divide, supporting hundreds of children and their families in Tower Hamlets to become digitally active through the distribution of free laptops, internet connections and training. Independent evaluations show big improvements in school children’s academic and personal development, as well as supporting parents access essential online services and employment opportunities.
Our research and experience shows us that by investing in these three key areas we can build lasting change in London’s East End. To find out more about our Life Chances Campaign, watch our video below.
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