One in five older people 'at risk of poverty'

One in five older people are at risk of poverty or suffering deprivation, according to ALONE, a charity caring for older people.

"It's having the ability to afford heat, it's having the ability to have food, it's having the ability to even having a waterproof coat, two pairs of shoes, all of these things," said the CEO of ALONE, Sean Moynihan.

"One in five older people are actually without some of these basics."

Today is UN Day for the eradication of poverty and a number of initiatives are taking place across the world to highlight the gap between the rich and poor.

He said that after seven successive years of harsh Budgets, the charity is questioning whether Budget 2015 will do anything to reduce the number of elderly people living in poverty.

"On behalf of the people we speak for, who generally don't have much of a voice, the fact is that after seven years of Budgets, they're worse off and the gap between rich and poor has widened, not narrowed over the years."