The failure of pension payments to keep pace with wages will lead to the elderly suffering deprivation in the future, the Economic and Social Research Institute has warned.
At a National Council on Ageing and Older People conference yesterday, Dr Richard Layte of the ESRI said the relative income poverty suffered by older people had "increased dramatically" in recent years.
The two-day Dublin conference aims to consider research findings and public policy on issues relating to the social inclusion of older people in Irish society.
Dr Layte said pension payments had outpaced inflation throughout the 1990s but pension income growth had been outpaced by wage growth.
"If this trend continues there will be real consequences for the future and deprivation will set in for the elderly," he said.
According to the ESRI, an estimated 49 per cent of single men over 65 survive on £51 to £100 a week. More than 70 per cent of single women over 65 survive on the same amount.
"Poverty especially affects elderly women, because they live longer and because they were unable to contribute to a pension over their lives and now rely on a State pension," said Dr Layte.
Opening the conference, the Minister of State for Health and Children, Dr Tom Moffatt, said the voice of the elderly was a welcome one on issues such as pension entitlements and health care.