Seven years on from the mixed-age couples rule coming into force, I wanted to thank you again for your support and ask you to help push for change by writing to your MP.
Since May 2019, couples where one partner is over State Pension age and the other is younger have not been able to claim Pension Credit and other pension-age benefits. Instead, they must claim Universal Credit, which is paid at a lower rate and was not designed for older people.
Around 70,000 older people are losing out on support intended to help keep pensioners out of poverty, simply because of their partner’s age. On average, affected couples lose nearly £6,000 a year.
As the State Pension age rises from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028, even more low-income couples will be affected.
To mark the anniversary, we have sent an open letter to the Government calling for the mixed-age couples rule to be reversed and for its impact on poverty to be reviewed.
We are also urging MPs to support an Early Day Motion (EDM) on this issue. You can help by writing to your MP using our template letter, asking them to sign the EDM and publicly support reversing the rule.
Nobody should lose vital financial support because of who they love.
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