Older retirees are over £8,000 short of meeting their basic needs, as a result of lower state pension payments, data shows.

A single pensioner would need a pre-tax income of £17,400 a year to achieve a minimum standard of living in retirement , according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation think-tank.

A minimum standard of living in the UK today includes how much you have for food, clothes and shelter – covering needs, not wants.

The full new state pension is £11,973 a year for anyone who retired after 2016. Older pensioners who retired before 2016 receive the basic state pension receive £9,175.

Most of these retirees receive an earnings-related top-up, known as Serps – however around 1.5 million do not.

As a result, anyone qualifying for the full basic element of the old state

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