Nobody should die in poverty
It shouldn’t be harder to make ends meet at the end of your life. But many people are pushed into poverty when they’re diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Every hour, ten people die in poverty in the UK.
The rising cost of living will only make things worse for dying people and their loved ones. We need urgent government action.
Download the reportWe're calling on government to...
Give dying people their State Pension
Protect dying people from soaring energy bills
Support dying parents with childcare costs
Find out what we're doing across the UK nations.
Together, we're making this an issue that can't be ignored
Over 166,000 people signed our petition calling for urgent government action and thousands have written to their MPs demanding change.
Give dying people their State Pension
Working age people are almost twice as likely to fall into poverty if they're diagnosed with a terminal illness than people claiming their State Pension. Forced to quit work just as their expenses skyrocket, more than one in four will spend their final days in poverty.
Pensions are meant to be there for us at the end of our lives. But if you're unfortunate enough to die before 65, you miss out – even if you've paid into the system your whole life.
Protect dying people from soaring energy bills
People living with a terminal illness are having to make the impossible choice between powering vital medical equipment, heating their home, or buying food.
Their energy bills can be thousands of pounds higher than the average household. But most don't get any extra help.
Help us take action to make energy bills affordable for people at the end of life.
Support dying parents and their children
Working age parents are more at risk than anyone of falling into poverty when they're diagnosed with a terminal illness. But free childcare schemes are only available to people in work or on certain benefits. A parent in poverty often means an entire family in poverty – including children.
Families affected by terminal illness should be making the most of their final moments together, not worrying about money. Childcare support schemes must be made available to all terminally ill parents.
Benefits and finances
90,000 people die in poverty each year in UK
Three things the Government could do to stop people dying in poverty
Our proposals for change could give people living with a terminal illness the financial safety net they urgently need.