State pensioners in mixed-age couples are being left up to £7,000 worse off each year due to a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) rule that campaigners describe as 'punishing'. The rule, introduced in 2019, means that couples can only claim certain benefits, such as Pension Credit, when both partners have reached state pension age. This affects around 70,000 older people, who are locked out of vital financial support worth an average of £4,300 a year from Pension Credit alone.
Campaigners call for change
Independent Age, along with 12 other organisations, has signed an open letter to DWP Secretary Pat McFadden, calling for an end to the mixed-age couples rule. The letter states: 'Nobody should be punished financially because of who they love. Yet as many as 70,000 older people are missing out on the financial safety net designed to protect pensioners, just because of their partner’s age. This is urgent.'
The letter warns that with the upcoming rise in state pension age, more mixed-age couples on low incomes will face longer waits for entitlements. Joanna Elson CBE, chief executive of Independent Age, said: 'Every day we hear from older people struggling to make ends meet, and for thousands of mixed-age couples the system is making that struggle even harder. This rule is unfairly locking around 70,000 older people out of vital pension-age support simply because their partner is younger.'
Impact on vulnerable couples
Jan Shortt, general secretary of the National Pensioners Convention, added: 'To treat people differently on the basis of who they fall in love with is nonsense. Mixed-age couples are suffering financially because they cannot access the support they need. Decisions made by the government penalise mixed-age couples and this must be addressed to enable them to be financially secure in the future.'
The campaigners argue that the rule creates a flawed system where two people of the same age can be treated completely differently depending on the age of their partner. The financial support they miss out on could be the difference between heating and eating or paying the rent.
