Today, Independent Age staged a Valentine’s Day themed campaign event outside Parliament to highlight the 60,000 older people with younger partners who are being prevented from accessing vital financial support due to the mixed-age couples rule[1]. Introduced in 2019, the rule blocks mixed-age couples from claiming Pension Credit and other pensioner entitlements until both partners reach State Pension age. On average, affected couples lose around £5,900 a year, with some losing as much as £7,000.

During the event, Independent Age staff and supporters handed out Valentine’s Day cards and love heart-shaped sweets to the public, while campaigners held placards reading “Love not Poverty” and “Fix the mixed-age couples rule.” The activity was designed to draw attention to the financial hardships faced by mixed-age couples and the urgent need for the damaging policy to be reversed.

Independent Age Chief Executive, Joanna Elson, CBE said:

“The mixed-age couples rule is unfair and must end. It is wrong that older people on a low-income with younger partners are locked out of vital financial support, forcing them to wait years for entitlements like Pension Credit. Independent Age supports couples where the younger partner is in low-paid employment or unable to work due to health conditions, or due to caring for their older partner. This rule risks pushing more older people into deep financial hardship.

“Who you fall in love with and choose to spend your later years with should not determine how much financial support you receive. Far too many older couples are forced to live on tiny incomes because of this rule. That’s why we have gathered outside Parliament today, to shine a light on a policy that penalises couples for love. It’s time for the UK Government to reverse it.”