New research from Learning and Work Institute, supported by Age UK, reveals an estimated six million people over 50 have difficulties with maths and six million have difficulties with reading.
Affected older people find it difficult to undertake important tasks, for example applying for Pension Credit, which means they will miss out on Winter Fuel Payment. It can also impact their ability to learn new skills and so remain economically active.
Given the current changes to Winter Fuel Payments, the research shows poor literacy skills make it harder to fill out the Pension Credit application form, meaning affected older people will find it even harder to maintain their payment. Currently, around a third of eligible older households (700,000) do not receive Pension Credit – a key benefit that helps boost the incomes of low-income pensioner households.
The form to claim Pension Credit has around 250 questions, so if you are an older person with low literacy skills, this would be a huge challenge to complete alone.
Age UK warns that the consequences of having low essential skills can be extremely damaging and can negatively affect health and financial capabilities. Additionally, poor digital skills can impact older people’s ability to access official online services and resources. This has a material impact on people’s finances and wider opportunities.
The Older people and essential skills report recognises there is a huge evidence gap in exploring older adults (over 50s) experiences of essential skills. It also considers the implications of skills gaps for older people’s daily lives, their experiences of improving their skills and what support is needed to help them thrive in later life.
Caroline Abrahams CBE, Charity Director at Age UK said: “We know there are many people of all ages with low levels of literacy, numeracy and/or digital skill in our society but relatively little is known about how this impacts our older population, and what the solutions may be.
“We also hope the research raises the awareness of policymakers about how barriers like these impede older people from carrying out a wide range of essential tasks, of which successfully claiming the benefits they are due is one of the most important – especially now, given the changes to Winter Fuel Payment.
“It’s so easy for civil servants and politicians to forget that not everyone is as proficient at reading and writing, maths and using tech as they are, so the report is, we hope, a salutary reminder about the importance of keeping processes as simple and straightforward as possible – something from which we would all benefit from as citizens.
“We also want to emphasise that older people can have low levels of these skills for all kinds of reasons, from having been let down by the education system many years ago, to developing physical or cognitive impairments much more recently.
“This places a responsibility on organisations of all kinds to flex their processes accordingly, so they don’t inadvertently exclude these older people – or their younger counterparts – as a result.”
Photo by Abinash Jothimani on Unsplash
