Increases to the state pension age will pull more dying people into poverty, according to analysis conducted by Marie Curie.
The cancer charity is sounding the alarm that more than 92,000 adults die before they can draw their pension pots every year.
According to Marie Curie, for each year the pension age is increased, thousands more people will die without being able to access their pension.
In 2022, one in seven deaths in the UK were of adults who died before they were able to access their pension at the age of 66, totalling 92,000 people.
As it stands, the state pension age is set to rise to 67 in 2026/27 which will see an additional 7,700 individuals dying before getting any payments.
Furthermore, an age hike to 68 is currently proposed to happen between 2041 and 2043 with an extra 15,8000 people being denied their entitlement before death.
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Experts are warning about the impact on dying people when the state pension age rises
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This would result in 108,000 people each year passing away without ever accessing their state pension.
Despite the percentage of Britons passing away prior to the pension age comparable across each UK country, it varies dependent on the local areas.
Two years ago, less than nine per cent of deaths under the age of 66 happened in Dorset, 22 per cent in Manchester while the London borough of Haringey saw these figures shoot past 25 per cent.
In terms of country, Scotland had the highest deaths under the state pension age in Glasgow City at 22 per cent, with Derry in Northern Ireland having a 18 per cent rate and Wales’ Torfaen at 17 per cent.
In its call to action, Marie Curie shared testimony of Charlotte whose family has been impacted by the current policy status quo.
Her mum Sarah was left unable to access her pension savings before she passed away at the age of 56.
She explained: “Mum should have been given her State Pension. She had so much stress saving and worrying about how to pay for her funeral.
“During her last months, she was constantly frantic about money because she just didn’t have any. And the more stressed someone with MS gets, the more the symptoms flare up.”
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Marie Curie is calling for dying people to be given early access to their state pension
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Emma Maun, Marie Curie Quantitative Research Manager, outlined what needs to be done to ensure pension justice for those who are dying.
“The impact of an increase in State Pension age will therefore be felt disproportionately in areas of higher deprivation in the UK and among already disadvantaged groups,” Maun said.
“The hardships caused for individuals affected by a rise in state pension age will not only be felt by those dying in poverty but their dependents and families.
“As people living with terminal illness in working age are twice as likely to die in poverty than older people, without mitigating action, increases in the state pension age will increase the number of people who die whilst living in poverty. Marie Curie is calling on the government to give all dying people access to their State Pension and other pensioner benefits, no matter their age.”