Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the effect of the 'triple lock' pension policy on the relative and absolute pensioner poverty rates between 2011 and 2024; and what proportion of pensioner households that benefited from the triple lock were above the poverty line throughout that period.

An estimate of the effect of the ‘triple lock’ pension policy on the relative and absolute pensioner poverty rates between 2011 and 2024; and proportions of pensioner households that benefitted from the triple lock and were above the poverty threshold are not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Data is available regarding the proportion of pensioner households that are above the relative and absolute poverty lines. The Households below average income (HBAI) statistics contain estimates of the number and percentage of people living in low-income households in the UK. This is published by the Department annually. The latest data covers financial year ending 2024.

In financial year ending 2011, 86% of pensioner households were above the relative poverty threshold after housing costs and 86% were above the absolute poverty threshold after housing costs.

In financial year ending 2024, 84% of pensioner households were above the relative poverty threshold after housing costs and 87% were above the absolute poverty threshold after housing costs.