Number of People Dying in Poverty Increases by 19% in Four Years

A shocking new report by end of life charity Marie Curie has set out the stark financial reality of dying in the United Kingdom today.

The report, Dying in Poverty 2024, based on research by Loughborough University, reveals that more than 300 people are now dying in poverty every single day in the UK.

Previous research from Marie Curie found that 93,000 people died in poverty across the UK in 2019. That number has now risen to 111,000, a 19% increase in four years.*

Dr Sam Royston, Executive Director of Policy and Research at Marie Curie, said:
“No one should have to face their final days worrying about money or whether they can afford to heat their home.

“And no matter what way you cut it, by age, gender, ethnicity or location, rates of poverty are higher for people at the end of life than the rest of the population.

“At a time when our politicians are debating whether or not to legalise assisted dying, surely they will also want to ensure no one would feel any pressure to choose an assisted death simply because they cannot afford the bare essentials of a decent standard of living.”

The report also reveals a deeply concerning analysis of how many people are dying in fuel poverty – at least 128,000 in 2022. That’s more than 1 in 5 of all people who died that year and includes 110,000 pensioners.

Simona’s husband, David, died in June 2024 from a stage four glioblastoma, six months after he was diagnosed. She said:
“David had to stop working straight away after his diagnosis because he couldn’t walk or move. And I had to stop work to be his full time carer. The amount of money we had through state benefits was barely enough to get us to the end of the month.

“His condition meant that he was constantly cold, so we had to keep the heating on all the time. We discussed this with our energy companies, and the only things they provided was an electric blanket and a discount of £200 – it wasn’t enough.

“All the medical equipment David needed was electric. It really raised the cost of our energy bills, and I still have an outstanding bill of £5,000 from the energy company.

“When David was on oxygen towards the end of his life, I spoke to the provider as the oxygen machine needed to be on all the time. They told me they would refund the cost of running the equipment, and later I had a cheque through the post from them for £13.”

Marie Curie is calling on the UK Government to guarantee working age people with less than 12 months to live a pension-level income and introduce a social tariff to cut energy bills for people at the end of life.

Once again, much like the charity’s previous research, the Dying in Poverty 2024 report shows that people who die before reaching retirement age are at a much higher risk of dying in poverty than pensioners (28% vs 16%).

This is partly because dying people of working age often experience a “double impact” of lost income and rising costs, particularly energy bills. And partly because the State Pension remains significantly more generous than working-age benefits.

The State Pension has increased in real terms in recent years thanks to the ‘triple lock’. In contrast, working-age benefits have been subject to a range of real-term cuts and freezes that have reduced their value considerably.

Giving terminally ill people of working age benefits which are level with the State Pension would provide crucial financial security and address the injustice of people dying before they can access the State Pension, despite potentially paying into the system for decades.

If the planned rises to State Pension Age go ahead, over 15,000 more people a year will die before accessing the State Pension.

Dr Juliet Stone, Research Fellow from the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University, says:
“The sharp rise in poverty at the end of life reflects the increasingly difficult financial circumstances faced by low-income households over the past four years. It is clear that poverty at the end of life cannot be fully tackled without efforts to address poverty more generally, but people in the last year of life face additional obstacles to achieving an adequate standard of living.

“Changes to the social security system, especially addressing the inadequacy of state benefits for people working age with a terminal illness, could go some way to reducing the risk of poverty at the end of life. But there is also a need to address the additional costs that people face when diagnosed with a terminal illness. We know that disability benefits regularly fall far short of covering these additional costs. But broader policy reform, including improvements to the availability of affordable services, including those related to social care, could help to bridge this gap, and allow for a dignified death without the additional burden of financial hardship.”

Calculations within the report also show that a social tariff that halves energy bills could lift as many as 54,000 (45%) dying people out of fuel poverty.

Dr Elaine Robinson, Research Associate, from the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University, says:
“Nobody should have to choose between financial hardship or exacerbating their condition by living in an inadequately heated home, or by not using vital medical equipment, especially those at the end of life.

“Existing fuel poverty policy does nothing to help those who are terminally ill – they can’t wait for energy efficiency improvements to housing or change their behaviour to save energy. Working adults in particular need support to help with the loss of income they often experience at the onset of terminal illness. Social tariffs would offer some much-needed help, but these don’t do anything to tackle inadequate incomes – current state benefits for terminally ill working-age people fall well short of meeting the additional costs many face.”

Since December 2022, Marie Curie has supported almost 4000 people with energy-related enquiries via its free Support Line. A partnership with the UK Gas Distribution Networks funds specialist Energy Support Line Officers.

To sign Marie Curie’s petition, calling on the UK Government to fix the cost of dying crisis, visit: mariecurie.org.uk/cost-of-dying-petition