DEPARTMENT of Work and Pensions (DWP) figures suggest almost two million people of pensionable age in the UK are living in poverty – based on population, that would represent 164,000 Scots.

State pensionable age is presently 66 for men and women but is rising next year to 67 for people born on or after April 1960; and to 68 from 2044 for people born on or after April 1977.

For Scotland, that’s an estimated £230 million of Pension Credit (PC) and help with housing costs going unclaimed every year.

READ NEXT: Mike Dailly: Scottish housing bond could tackle our accommodation crisis

In February 2024, there were 1.4 million people receiving PC in the UK. Some two-thirds of people receiving PC were women.

There were 11,000 fewer claimants compared to the previous year.........

© Evening Times