IFS: Pensioners earning more than workers
PENSIONERS are better off than ever before, earning more on average than people of working age, according to new research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
IFS director Paul Johnson said last night that his research suggests pensioners’ incomes will continue to rise for at least the next decade – but it is unlikely younger generations will earn as much.
Speaking at the Pensions Management Institute in London, Johnson said people born later will not fare as well because future state pensions will be less generous, private sector pensions have shifted from defined benefit to defined contribution schemes, and home ownership rates are falling.
Johnson also said younger generations are likely to bear the brunt of paying for existing generous pension schemes – even though they will never benefit from the programmes.
The relative wealth of pensioners “represents a remarkable transformation”, Johnson said, as in the mid-1980s, pensioners were at least three times as likely to be poor as non-pensioners.