Survey finds many older people haven't had a holiday in five years

1:13pm Saturday 19th January 2008

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Excluding visits with family and friends, well over a tenth of older people in the South west have not had a holiday for more than five years according to new research by leading older people's charity Help the Aged1.

Eating out is also out of reach for many pensioners here with one in 25 admitting they have not had a meal out for over a year.

Help the Aged is challenging the Government to improve the lives of millions of UK pensioners by tackling pensioner poverty once and for all. £4.5 billion in benefits for older people goes unclaimed each year.

The Charity is calling for Council Tax Benefit, Housing Benefit and Pension Credit to be paid automatically so older people don't have to go through the complicated process of making claims.

The Help the Aged research also reveals that in the South West:

An extra £5 a week - just over 70 pence a day would make a real difference to well over half of older people in this area (56 per cent). Some people said they would buy more food;

One in 20 of pensioners (4 per cent) regularly depend on family and friends to help them out financially;

Anna Pearson, policy manager at Help the Aged, says: "Some people wrongly assume that retirement is all about living the good life, jetting off around the world and generally having a great time. But the daily reality for millions of older people is very different.

"The Government often imply to us that older people aren't bothered about claiming small amounts such as £5 a week. But this new research clearly shows this claim to be untrue. A fiver might not seem like a lot of money for some people but it could help three in five older people."