UK state pensions: are older retirees getting a bad deal?

The new state pension may seem more generous than the basic rate, but the real picture isn’t so simple. Photograph: 10’000 Hours/Getty Images

Sheila receives the basic state pension and says it is a struggle to make ends meet. “We’re supposed to survive on pocket money,” says the widow, aged 81. “I don’t go out because I can’t afford it. I used to go for a coffee to treat myself but not any more. It’s too expensive. If I buy clothes it is at the charity shop.

“The way we have to live is not nice at all. There’s masses of people in the same position. It makes you isolated because if you can’t go out and have a little spend it is not living is it?”