Alarm sounded after decline in pension credit claimants

According to the DWP's latest quarterly data, fewer than 2.5m people claimed the credit in the 12 months to the end of November last year, a fall of 147,000 on the previous year. The DWP said the drop was due to the increase in the state pension age for women, which is also the date at which people are eligible to claim pension credit, but pensions specialists suggested that explanation masked a larger problem. In the year to November 2006, more than 2.7m people claimed pension credit, which replaced the minimum income guarantee in 2003. Stephen Lowe, director at retirement income ...