. . . . . "

An estimated 115,000 couples are in receipt of either Pension Credit or pension-age Housing Benefit where one partner has reached state pension age and the other has not. These couples will continue to receive those benefits for as long as they are entitled to either of them. The table below shows further breakdowns of mixed age couples.

Nov 2018

Claiming Pension Credit only

34,000

Claiming Housing Benefit only

25,000

Claiming both Pension Credit and Housing Benefit

55,000

Total mixed age couples

115,000

The table below gives estimates of the effects on Annual Managed Expenditure of the changes to be introduced in May 2019 to the eligibility for Pension Credit and pension-age Housing Benefit of couples where one partner has reached state pension age and the other has not. The estimates relate to couples who are not in receipt of either Pension Credit or pension-age Housing Benefit at the point the changes are introduced. They include no estimate of behavioural effects, for example from job retention or increased saving for retirement.

Estimated overall AME savings

Year

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

\u00A345m

\u00A3130m

\u00A3220m

To provide context in terms of the estimated AME savings in relation to the mixed age couples policy, the table below sets out total forecasted AME spending directed at pensioners over the same time period.

Expenditure Directed at Pensioners

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

Nominal terms

Forecast

Forecast

Forecast

\u00A3123,961m

\u00A3125,857m

\u00A3130,692m

Source: Table 2a, Benefit expenditure and caseload tables, 2018 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2018)

" . "2019-01-29+00:00"^^ . . . . . . .