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An estimated 66,300 (72%) of those families entitled to Pension Credit received it, with an estimated 26,300 (28%) potentially entitled to Pension Credit but not receiving it.

In terms of expenditure, an estimated £4.5m (81%) of the total amount of Pension Credit that could have been claimed each week was claimed.

There was an estimated £1.1m per week in unclaimed Pension Credit expenditure. Examining the bandings of unclaimed expenditure, an estimated 46% of cases are entitled to between £0 and £20 per week.

Figure 1: Total Unclaimed Expenditure in the 2019/20 Year

What you need to know

Introduction

This report provides estimates of the take-up of Pension Credit in Northern Ireland for the 2019/20 financial year. Pension Credit is an income-related benefit made up of two elements - Guarantee Credit and Savings Credit. A claimant may receive either or both of these elements depending on their circumstances. Further information on Pension Credit can be found on NI Direct and in the Quality and Methodology Report document accompanying this publication.

Take-up refers to the receipt of benefits someone is entitled to. There are some people who are entitled to benefits but not receiving them. An income related benefit is a benefit where a potential claimant’s income is taken into account when deciding whether they are entitled to the benefit. This income can include income from savings or earnings.

Take-up of benefits in general can be affected by multiple factors. Trying to explain the reasons for non-take-up is difficult and cannot be discerned directly from the data. Take-up may be affected by broad factors such as the attractiveness of the benefit, lack of awareness of the benefit/application procedure, lack of awareness of entitlement, the perceived stigma of receiving a benefit (Eurofound 2015).

How is it Measured?

Take-up is estimated in two ways:

Caseload: The number of benefit recipients in receipt of Pension Credit at a specific point in time, compared to the number if everyone entitled to the benefit had claimed it. For the purposes of this publication, we have used April 2020 as the point in time. The caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 100 (unless otherwise stated) and percentages are rounded to the nearest percentage point.

Expenditure: The total amount of Pension Credit claimed by the total number of recipients claiming it at a specific point in time (April 2020), compared to the total amount if everyone entitled to the benefit had claimed it. The amounts claimed and unclaimed are rounded to the nearest £0.1 million (unless otherwise stated) and percentages are rounded to the nearest percentage point.

Caseload and expenditure take-up rates are estimated through analysis of cross government administrative data. Throughout this report a ‘family’ refers to either a single adult or a married or cohabiting couple, and any dependent children.

Data accompanying this publication

Supplementary tables (Open Document Spreadsheet) accompanying this publication are available on the Department for Communities (DfC) website

Caseload and Expenditure Take-Up Rates

Figure 2a: Estimates of Pension Credit Caseload Take-Up for 2019/20 and 2017/18

In 2019/20, an estimated 72% of families who were entitled to Pension Credit received it, with an estimated 28% potentially entitled to Pension Credit not receiving it. This equates to figures of 66,300 receiving the benefit and 26,300 potentially entitled to the benefit but not claiming. In 2017/18, the take-up rate was estimated to be 70%. While the overall take-up rate has increased, the number of Pension Credit recipients and Potentially Entitled Non-Recipients (PENRs) has decreased since 2017/18. This is connected to the increase in State Pension age and other changing eligibility criteria.

Caseload take-up of Pension Credit by those aged under 75 is comparable to that for those aged 75 or over. In 2019/20, the take-up rate for under 75 is estimated at 73% and for over 75 it is estimated at 71%. In 2017/18, the take-up rate for both of these categories was estimated to be 70%.

A full breakdown of these figures can be found in the accompanying tables to this report. Please note that analysis of the 2018/19 financial year has not been completed due to the limitations on resources caused by Covid-19.

Figure 2b: Estimates of Pension Credit Expenditure Take-Up for 2019/20 and 2017/18

In 2019/20, an estimated 81% of the total amount of Pension Credit that could have been claimed was claimed, with 19% potentially unclaimed. This equates to approximately £1.1m per week in unclaimed expenditure. In 2017/18 an estimated 79% of the total amount of Pension Credit available was claimed.

As the expenditure take-up rate is higher than the caseload take-up rate, this implies that on average those not taking up Pension Credit may be eligible for smaller amounts than those who take up the benefit. This is detailed further in Range of Estimated Unclaimed Pension Credit Expenditure by examining the range of unclaimed Pension Credit amounts.

Expenditure take-up of Pension Credit by those aged under 75 is estimated at 83%, whilst those aged 75 or over see an estimated 79% take-up. In 2017/18, the take-up rate for both of these categories was estimated to be 79%.

The estimated mean weekly amount unclaimed for Pension Credit is £41 with the median weekly amount unclaimed estimated to be £22.

Family Type Breakdown of Pension Credit Take-Up

Caseload take-up of Pension Credit by both Single Females and Single Males are comparable at 73% and 70% respectively. Couples see a take-up of 70%, an increase from 2017/18 where take-up was estimated at 62%. The introduction of a new policy in May 2019, which required both partners in a couple to have reached State Pension age in order to be eligible for a new Pension Credit claim, may have affected the estimated take-up rates for couples. As a result of the change, mixed age couples (where one is above state pension age and the other is below) are no longer potentially eligible, unlike in 2017/18.

Figure 3a: Caseload Take-up of Pension Credit by Family Type

Expenditure take-up of Pension Credit is lowest amongst Single Males at 76%. A higher take-up is found by both Couples and Single Females with 81% and 82% respectively.

Figure 3b: Expenditure Take-up of Pension Credit by Family Type

Geographical Breakdown of Pension Credit Take-Up (Caseload)

Examining at Local Government District (LGD) level, Derry City and Strabane has the highest Pension Credit take-up with an estimated 80% taking up the benefit. Ards and North Down sees an estimated 62% taking up the benefit – the lowest % amongst LGDs. In 17/18, Ards and North Down had the lowest take-up with an estimated 61% while Belfast and Derry City and Strabane had the highest % amongst LGDs with an estimated 77%.

Figure 4: Map of Pension Credit Caseload Take-Up % by Local Government District

Range of Estimated Unclaimed Pension Credit Expenditure

In 19/20, the total amount of weekly unclaimed expenditure is estimated to be £1.1m. Within the Pension Credit PENR group, there are a variety of weekly unclaimed amounts. Approximately 27% (7,100) potentially entitled cases who do not take up Pension Credit are estimated to be entitled to between £0 and £10 per week, with a further 19% (5,100) estimated to be entitled to between £10 and £20 per week.

Figure 5a: % of Potentially Entitled Non-Recipients within Bands of Unclaimed Pension Credit Expenditure

However, these bandings only represent an estimated 3% (£35,000) and 7% (£74,000) respectively of the total weekly unclaimed expenditure. This indicates that a large proportion of cases are eligible for smaller amounts, in particular when examining the overall total unclaimed expenditure. In those cases where the recipient, be they single or in a couple, would be eligible for larger amounts of Pension Credit this is due to additional elements such as the severe disability addition or carers addition.

Figure 5b: % of Estimated Unclaimed Pension Credit Expenditure Within Bands

The median weekly amount unclaimed is £22 per week compared to the mean weekly amount unclaimed of £41 per week. In 17/18 the median weekly amount unclaimed was £21 while the mean amount unclaimed was £38 per week.

About these statistics

The methodology for deriving the estimates of benefit take-up is complex. Figures in this report are based on analysis of cross government administrative data, including Social Security Benefit and HMRC data, for the 2019/20 tax year.

To produce both caseload and expenditure take-up estimates, the DfC administrative Pension Credit scan at April 2020 was examined. This provided the benefit caseload and the overall amount of Pension Credit claimed at this time. However, in order to estimate the Pension Credit take-up rate, it was required to identify those PENR cases. Examining cases not receiving Pension Credit, the Pension Credit entitlement criteria was applied to their income and demographic information from administrative data in order to identify cases not currently receiving the benefit who may be entitled to it. The calculation to determine the Pension Credit take-up rate is:

Calculation for determining the Pension Credit take-up rate: The number of Entitled Pension Credit Recipients divided by the sum of the Entitled Pension Credit Recipients and the Potentially Entitled Non-Recipients for Pension Credit

As detailed in this publication, we have also estimated the amount of unclaimed Pension Credit and subsequently the expenditure take-up rate for the benefit. When combining administrative data sources and due to the complexity of Pension Credit entitlement rules, there are assumptions made and limitations to the calculations carried out. The methodology used has been tested on those already in receipt of the benefit as part of an extensive quality assurance process. Further information on the methodology approach used can be found in the Background Information and Methodology document which accompanies this publication.

Contact Information

Data Quality Statement

These statistics are in an experimental stage and as such are subject to retrospective revision in any future releases.

The methodology for producing these statistics is undergoing continual quality assurance and as such refinements may be made. Consequently, the methodology may change, leading to a revision of the figures contained within.

Further Information

For more information on NI benefit take-up statistics, including detailed tables, please see the supplementary tables which accompany this report. Alternatively, contact DfC Professional Services Unit at

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