The number of people receiving less than £100 per week in state pension has dropped to 1.9 million as of February 2022, of which just under 1.5 million are women, according to new statistics released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

In contrast, figures produced by DWP in August last year showed that 2.1 million people received less than £100 per week from the state for retirement provision. Of that number, 1.64 million were women.

Overall, according to the latest figures, there were 12.5 million people receiving the state pension at February 2022, an increase of 140,000 on a year earlier.

The DWP also revealed that there were 2.5 million people receiving the new state pension, an increase of 650,000 on a year earlier. In addition, there were 1.4 million people receiving Pension Credit, representing a total of 1.6 million beneficiaries when including partners.

The DWP said that the introduction of the new state pension has evened out some of the gap between the average weekly payments for men and women, as women tend to get more under the new rules than under the pre-2016 rules.

"However, due to earlier timetabled increases in women’s State Pension Age fewer women have joined the [new state pension] than men," said the DWP.

The gender state pension gap has continued to close, according to the latest figures. Average incomes for women were £165.05 per week for the new state pension and £146.70 for those on the old state pension.

This compares to an average male income of £170.49 per week on the new state pension and £172.71 for the old state pension.

Commenting on the figures, Hargreaves Lansdown senior pensions and retirement analyst Helen Morrissey, said that it was good news that women were continuing to close the gender state pension gap, but that it was worth remembering that many people still do not receive anywhere near the full amount.

"Over 1.9m people still receive less than £100 per week from their state pension — that shocking statistic is on the way down but shows just how many pensioners could be struggling," she said.

"Some of these people will have other pensions they can use to supplement their income but those who don’t face incredibly difficult times as the costs of essentials like fuel and food continue to soar."


This article first appeared on our sister title, Pensions Age.

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