Janet Morrison, Chief Executive, IndependentAge, response to the passing of the Pensions Act 2007 into law

'IndependentAge welcomes the provisions of the Pensions Act 2007 which lower the number of years a person must make contributions before being eligible for a Full Basic State Pension. This will bring some comfort in the future to some of the poorest and socially excluded older people in our society, to women and carers. However, I am also concerned that the phasing in of the new provisions will be too late for the thousands of older people currently existing on the breadline. Many more of our older population will also continue to fall into poverty as the cost of living rises before this new Act makes any significant impact. Research with the older people that we support shows that nearly half already cut down on heating and a fifth cut down on food to save money.'