Policy interventions to alleviate poverty at the end of life
This report builds upon previous research by CRSP estimating that 90,000 people in the UK die in poverty every year, and that the risk of poverty is highly concentrated among people who die before pension age. This new research, funded by end-of-life charity Marie Curie, evaluates the costs and benefits of giving working age people with terminal illness early access to the State Pension. The findings show that giving this group early access to their State Pension could almost halve their rate of poverty across the UK, lifting more than 8,600 dying people out of poverty every year. The cost of introducing this change, £114.4 million per year, is 0.1% of the annual State Pension bill and just £4 million more than the Department for Work and Pensions spent on overpaying the State Pension in error last year. The research therefore demonstrates that the simple and cost-effective measure of giving working age people with terminal illness access to the State Pension could be a highly effective policy to reduce the risk of poverty for people at a time when they are already extremely vulnerable, both personally and financially.
Stone, J. (2023) Policy interventions to alleviate poverty at the end of life. London: Marie Curie