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Sign in or register for an accountFinancial security is a significant concern for many older people, especially once they retire. Once an older individual chooses, or is no longer able, to earn income through employment, their level of income tends to become more fixed and is dependent on pensions, benefits, income from assets and family or other support. There is a well-established relationship between income and health, as described by the Marmot Review, where people on low incomes refrain from purchasing goods or services that maintain or improve health, or purchase cheaper versions that may increase health risks. Being on a low income also prevents people from fully participating in social life.
People in the UK can usually claim the State Pension once they reach State Pension age, currently 66 for most people but reaching 67 in early 2028. The amount of income someone receives from their State Pension depends on several factors including the number of National Insurance qualifying years they have, their year of birth and whether Additional State Pension contributions were made.
While many older people will also have accumulated pension income as a result of paying into workplace or private pensions that they receive in addition to their State Pension, the Department for Work and Pensions estimates that 1.1 million people rely solely on the State Pension for their income, and for the poorest fifth of those over State Pension age, it accounts for 78% of income for couples and 86% for single people.
It is likely that income insecurity for older people will become a more significant issue in the future, with pension incomes expected to decline over the next 20 years, and lower levels of home ownership meaning increased pressure on finances as a consequence of households needing to pay rent in later life.
Levels of financial security among older adults vary significantly across Salford. The map below the proportion of people receiving the State Pension in each Salford ward who were also claiming Pension Credit as of August 2025. As Pension Credit is a benefit with the aim of providing help with living costs for people over State Pension age who are on a low income, it is a reasonable proxy measure for financial insecurity among older people (although the level of uptake must be considered, as described later), and is available at electoral ward level.
[Download the Pension Credit proportion, csv format, 3kb]
As the map shows, in August 2025 the wards with the highest proportion of those on the State Pension also claiming Pension Credit were Blackfriars and Trinity with over half (55%) claiming Pension Credit, Ordsall with 43% claiming, Broughton with 39% claiming and Pendleton and Charlestown with 34%. Boothstown and Ellenbrook ward had the lowest proportion of those receiving the State Pension claiming Pension Credit (3.5%). The Quays ward had the lowest count of Pension Credit claimants at only 41 in August 2025, which would be expected given its relatively young population (only 239 people in total were claiming the State Pension in Quays in August 2025).
Comparing Salford to similar local authorities (known as CIPFA nearest neighbours), shows that in August 2025, the average proportion of those on the State Pension in these local authorities also claiming Pension Credit was 15.6%. In Salford, 17.9% were claiming Pension Credit for the same period, third highest among Salford’s nearest neighbours. The proportion of those on State Pension claiming Pension Credit has decreased since the same period in 2020, when 20.6% of this group were claiming Pension Credit in Salford, higher than the August 2020 average of 18.2% among Salford’s nearest neighbours.
Attendance Allowance is a separate benefit which is intended to assist with extra costs for those over State Pension age who need assistance or supervision as a result of an illness or disability. In Salford, over 5,400 people were receiving Attendance Allowance in the quarter ending August 2025, a significant increase of over 21% since the same period in 2019.
Some groups are more at risk of living with an inadequate income in later life, including:
It should also be recognised that not being in receipt of Pension Credit does not necessarily mean that a household’s income is secure. According to Independent Age, 20% of people receiving Pension Credit are themselves still in poverty. Nor are all of those who are eligible for Pension Credit actively claiming it. In Salford, 73% of eligible households were claiming Pension Credit in 2023/24. Although this is the second highest rate in Greater Manchester, this still means that around 2,400 Salford households who were potentially eligible for Pension Credit were not claiming it.
As Pension Credit is either fully payable or not payable, with no tapering of different levels of support, there are significant numbers of pensioners whose income level is just above the threshold to receive Pension Credit, meaning they receive no benefit and making them ineligible for related benefits including Housing Benefit and free dental care and glasses. Once these factors are taken into account, in some cases households just above the income threshold who do not receive Pension Credit may experience greater overall financial pressures than those who do.
Salford has one of the highest rates in the country of pensioners dying in poverty. In 2023, 24% of pensioners who died in Salford that year were in classed as being in poverty, the 19th highest in England (Manchester was highest at 30%).
Another measure related to financial security in older age is the Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index (IDAOPI), part of the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) most recently updated in 2025. It measures the proportion of people over 60 who experience income deprivation and allows for a relative ranking of local authorities as well as smaller geographical areas known as Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs). Salford ranks 35th highest out of 296 lower tier local authorities in England for the IDAOPI 2025 measure, with 9,046 (18%) Salford residents aged over 60 living in an LSOA within the 10% most deprived nationally.
In 2019, the rules for claiming Pension Credit were changed so that in households composed of couples, neither partner can claim Pension Credit until both partners have reached State Pension age and both must instead claim Universal Credit, which is paid at a lower rate. It is estimated that that this affects around 60,000 couples nationally. In Salford, there were almost 300 people over State Pension age claiming Universal Credit in January 2026.
Age UK suggests a number of policy changes while maintaining current levels of support to those receiving the State Pension, including ensuring that the State Pension provides sufficient income to meet basic needs, providing opportunities for individuals to build up private income in preparation for retirement, increasing benefit uptake through publicity, and by simplifying the administration of benefits.
In Salford, there are a number of ways to support people with claiming Pension Credit locally, including referrals to Salford’s Welfare Rights and Debt Advice Service (WRADAS), Salford Unemployed and Community Resource Centre and Salford Citizens Advice. Once a successful claim for Pension Credit is made, payments can be backdated for up to three months. Salford WRADAS is undertaking a project to increase benefit uptake among people over State Pension Age which has provided over £5.7m to the city’s pensioners in its first two years. A targeted campaign working with Salford Primary Care Networks to increase uptake of Attendance Allowance is also underway.