8 June 2011: Two papers published today (link to press release) by the Institute for Fiscal Studies show that:
- Households receiving the winter fuel payment are almost 14 times as likely to spend the money on fuel than would have been the case had their incomes been increased in other ways;
- But in very cold weather it remains the case that the poorest pensioners cut back on spending on food to finance the additional cost of heating their homes.
IFS reports Cash by any other name? Evidence on labelling from the UK Winter Fuel Payment and Is there a “heat or eat” trade-off in the UK?