Living Conditions for Financially Disadvantaged Pensioners

Among other things, the Danish pension system ensures that the elderly do not fall below the poverty line when they reach the age of retirement. This report describes the group of elderly people in Denmark who are financially disadvantaged: how big is this group, who are they, and what are their living conditions.
The report describes the life situation for individuals who were 68 years old or older in the period from 2000 to 2013. The report includes an examination of this group’s income composite, consumption and living conditions. Additionally, the report includes an analysis of the inequality between financially disadvantaged pensioners and their peers.
Overall, the study demonstrates that there are relatively few financially disadvantaged pensioners. For the financially disadvantaged pensioners, the state retirement pension is the most important source of income; however, they also rely on their social housing allowance. The analysis also demonstrates that especially immigrants from non-Western countries are over-represented among the financially disadvantaged pensioners.
The study was commissioned and financed by the Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment.