Someone of pension age who has acquired sight loss in adult life and is eligible for certification as sight impaired, faces significantly greater additional cost, compared to people of working age with the same degree of impairment. This difference is accounted for by three areas with higher costs for pensioners household – services, transport and food but that this is partly offset by – somewhat lower costs in other areas, particularly technology. Discussion and conclusions This research builds on the findings of the previous study showing that people who are vision impaired face a range of additional household costs. It also shows how these costs can vary greatly according to severity of impairment and life stage. In particular, having a severe sight impairment more than doubles the additional minimum costs identified for someone of working age who is sight impaired but with some usable sight. Being of pension age and sight impaired adds around 50 per cent more costs than being working age and sight impaired. Behind differences lie both practical considerations and psychological factors that influence what sight impaired people require in order to participate fully in society. These factors interact to influence, in particular: how much help people need in the home; how they can stay safe; the help and support that they require outside the home including in getting around and in participating socially; and how they use technology. The amount of help available from friends and relations, the strength of local services and access to these, and interactions between sight loss and other impairments are also all important in determining additional costs. An issue for pension age people who become sight
Someone of pension age who has acquired sight loss in adult life and is eligible for certification as sight impaired, faces significantly greater additional cost, compared to people of working age with the same degree of impairment. This difference is accounted for by three areas with higher costs for pensioners – household services, transport and food – but that this is partly offset by somewhat lower costs in other areas, particularly technology. Discussion and conclusions This research builds on the findings of the previous study showing that people who are vision impaired face a range of additional household costs. It also shows how these costs can vary greatly according to severity of impairment and life stage. In particular, having a severe sight impairment more than doubles the additional minimum costs identified for someone of working age who is sight impaired but with some usable sight. Being of pension age and sight impaired adds around 50 per cent more costs than being working age and sight impaired. Behind differences lie both practical considerations and psychological factors that influence what sight impaired people require in order to participate fully in society. These factors interact to influence, in particular: how much help people need in the home; how they can stay safe; the help and support that they require outside the home including in getting around and in participating socially; and how they use technology. The amount of help available from friends and relations, the strength of local services and access to these, and interactions between sight loss and other impairments are also all important in determining additional costs. An issue for pension age people who become sight
Sight%20Loss%20and%20Minimum%20Living%20Standards%20Report_Word.docx