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Who are we? · Groups · United Kingdom

Where do single pensioners sit in the income distribution?

29% of single pensioners were in the lowest-income fifth before housing costs, against 20% of everyone; 9% were in the highest (April 2024 to March 2025). See how this compares after housing costs.

Evidence last reviewed 31 October 2026

Where they sit

Single pensioners: share in each income fifth, after housing costs, April 2024 to March 2025
Survey-based evidence · Family Resources Survey, April 2024 to March 2025
  • Lowest-income fifth20%

    Everyone: 20%

  • Second fifth24%

    Everyone: 20%

  • Middle fifth22%

    Everyone: 20%

  • Fourth fifth19%

    Everyone: 20%

  • Highest-income fifth15%

    Everyone: 20%

If this group had the same incomes as everyone else, each bar would be 20%. About 4.7 million people were in this group.

Show the workings and sources
Single pensioners by income fifth, AHC
FifthShare of group
Lowest-income fifth20.3%
Second fifth23.8%
Middle fifth22.2%
Fourth fifth19.2%
Highest-income fifth14.6%

HBAI Table 3.1db (Family type). Row label as published: “Single pensioner”.

  • Survey-based: Family Resources Survey 2024/25, UK private households. DWP publishes no confidence intervals for these breakdowns; small groups have wider uncertainty.
  • From FYE 2022 HBAI links survey answers to DWP and HMRC records; earlier years are not comparable (DWP note 1).
  • Fifths rank people, not households: each fifth holds a fifth of individuals, so households in it differ in number and size.
  • Ethnic group is that of the head of household, and ethnic group and region rows are 3-year averages; their sizes are pooled and differ slightly from the latest-year total (DWP note 81).
  • Disability is self-reported limiting long-term illness or condition (DWP note 38).

How has this changed?

No long-run series for this group

DWP publishes the 30-year low-income series only for the smaller groups within it: Single male pensioners, Single female pensioners. The two are not added together here.

Other groups

Income fifths: Lowest-income fifth · Second fifth · Middle fifth · Fourth fifth · Highest-income fifth

All groups · Income, low income and food

Built from official tables and checked by automated tests; it has not yet had independent analytical review. About these numbers.