Sheila Cornell, 83, is finding the rising costs of bills unmanageable and is calling for the state pension to be doubled
Sheila Cornell, 83, lives in a small house owned outright in Lincolnshire and has relied on the state pension and pension credit since retiring at the age of 70.
Combined, these give Sheila an income of £230 per week – but she says this is not enough to get by.
She believes the basic state pension should be at least doubled to enable pensioners to enjoy a better retirement.
Sheila told The i Paper that her financial situation was “awful”, adding that many pensioners struggle in silence.
“It is terrible and getting worse every day for pensioners like me. The amount of money going out always exceeds the amount I have coming in. It is impossible to survive on the state pension. There’s nothing to look forward to and I’m just managing from week to week.”
The retiree, who runs for one hour a day and used to be a marathon runner, had a varied career and worked as a legal secretary when she was younger. She retired at the age of 70 after working in a part-time job helping organise kitchen showrooms.
While working in kitchen showrooms, Sheila noticed the amount of tax she was paying and gave HMRC a call.
“The man I was speaking to at HMRC told me that it was not worthwhile for me to work given all the running costs and taxes I was subject to. By the time I used my car to get to the job and paid all my taxes, there was nothing left.”
With winter on the horizon, Sheila has no plans to switch on her central heating.
“I’ll be using a small electric heater this winter and will not be turning on my central heating at all”, Sheila said, adding: “The central heating is just too expensive to run. I am living hand to mouth and the cost of heating a home is just too high.”
Sheila recently spotted that her monthly water bill had risen from £5 to £16 a month after a discount scheme for pensioners on a low income with her provider was scrapped.
“I was horrified to see that my water bill had increased and only knew about it when I saw it on my bank statement. The cost of everything just keeps going up and it is unmanageable. An extra £10 for people like me can mean going without food”, Sheila said.
The cost of food in supermarkets is a major issue for Sheila.
She said: “Food inflation is rising every week. I grow my own vegetables and always cook from scratch to save money. I batch cook and freeze food and make a pack of mince last for days. The cost of things like a joint of beef or chicken is ridiculous. The packs are getting smaller while the cost is going up.”
Sheila only buys clothes in charity shops and has not had a haircut for eight months as the cost has increased to £30 a time. She never imagined she would be struggling financially in later life.
“When I was younger, only men were offered pensions in the workplace. Not having enough money in later life didn’t cross my mind. I worked hard and paid my taxes all my life and believed I would have an adequate pension at the end of it. The reality has been very different.
”If I had a better state pension, my quality of life would improve. I would like to be able to meet up with my friends and go out to eat or have a coffee, have a treat from the supermarket and potentially even enjoy a few holidays. These are things I cannot afford to do as a pensioner living in the UK now. I do not want to be living hand to mouth like I am now.”
Sheila thinks the state pension should be at least doubled, with concepts like the triple lock and pension credit scrapped. In her view, the main state pension should be “decent” and by itself sufficient to live on.
She said: “Other countries in Europe and elsewhere have much better pensions than we do. I have a friend in Holland who has a significantly higher basic state pension than mine, and enjoys a better quality of life. Pensioners don’t want to have to go out begging for handouts and extras like pension credit which make them feel inferior.”
In Sheila’s view, Keir Starmer and the Government act like they “hate pensioners” and “would rather none of us were here.”
She said: “A rich country treating pensioners the way they do is despicable. Pensioners like me have worked hard all their lives and are treated with disdain. It has to change.”
Caroline Abrahams CBE, charity director at Age UK said: “Significant numbers of pensioners are struggling to get by and do not have any money left over at the end of the week. Many of them will have a small private pension, while others only have the state pension to rely on.
“One in eight older people get all of their income from the state pension and other entitlements and one in six pensioners still live in poverty. If anyone is worried about the extra costs of winter, please reach out to Age UK to see if you’re entitled to any extra financial support.”
