The gap between the incomes of pensioners and people of working age has narrowed over 20 years, according to official figures.
30 JUNE 2016 | CINTIA CHEONG
Produced by the Office for National Statistics and the Department for Work and Pensions, the analysis found in 1994-95 pensioners' average net income per week was 38% lower than that of the working age population. By 2014-15 it was just 7% lower.
Commenting on the findings, Fiona Tait, pensions specialist at Royal London, said the reduced gap was probably due to younger pensioners continuing to work.
"Longer working lives look to becoming more the norm," she said.
"What is not clear is whether these people are working because they want to, or because they have to in order to supplement their income. This suggests people may be better off with a plan that is based on a more realistic retirement age, with a contingency for not being able to work."
Tom McPhail, head of retirement policy at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the findings could exacerbate intergenerational tensions.
He said: "A key component of pensioners' improving prosperity has been the state pension, which has increased from an average of £133 a week in 2004/05 to £161 a week in 2014/15.
"The continued use of the triple lock may come under increasing pressure, if only to refocus state pension resources on the over-75s who have the greater need."
The analysis also revealed people increasingly relied on private sources of income.
The percentage of retirees with over half their income from private sources has increased from 30% to around 40% between 1994-95 and 2014-15.
Tait advised people to make additional savings if they wanted to maintain their standard of living in retirement.
"Benefit income, such as the state pension, is designed to provide a basic level of income, not to replace earned income," she said.
She added that automatic enrolment would help people to secure additional income but contribution levels would "almost certainly have to be higher than the bare minimum".
