Thousands of people caring for loved ones will be £7,000 worse off because of a state pension age rise that begins in April. Others will be forced to survive on unemployment benefits because they are unable to work, campaigners warned. The state pension age, currently 66, is set to increase by one month in April this year and continue rising gradually until it reaches 67 in March 2028.

It means 820,000 66-year-olds will lose their entitlement to the state pension, and to other benefits such as Pension Credit that are only available to pensioners.Carers UK, which represents millions of people who provide unpaid care for family or friends, has warned MPs that working-age carers receiving the carer element of Universal Credit get £134.82 per week less than those eligible for Pension Credit – leaving them £7,011 worse off every year.

Carers UK said: “By raising the State Pension Age by one year, 26,000 unpaid carers are likely to have an additional year on working age benefits.”

Emily Holzhausen, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, told a panel of MPs the difference “is really quite stark”.

She said: “That additional year is approximately £182 million where the government gains, but that is no longer available for unpaid carers.”

She warned that many carers have health conditions themselves, and they were more likely to be women than men.

Arthritis UK pointed out that the age increase was said to be necessary because life expectancy had gone up, but for many people this did not mean “healthy life expectancy”, the period when they were fit to work, had increased in the same way.

Joe Levenson, the body’s Assistant Director of UK Advocacy, told MPs: “What we have seen is a perfect storm for many people living with arthritis.

“We have seen cost of living pressures, we’ve seen a stalling of healthy life expectancy, we’ve seen an increase in the state pension age.”

He added: “We are failing people.”

The last pension age increase, from 65 to 66, increased the proportion of 65 year olds in poverty from one in 10 to one in four.

If this year’s rise has the same impact, it would mean 115,000 additional people in their mid-sixties forced into poverty.

But experts say the number could be even higher, with long term consequences on health and debt that can affect people for the rest of their lives. Campaigners are calling on the Government to continue pension pensioner benefits such as Pension Credit to people aged 66.

The Commons Work and Pensions Committee is holding an inquiry into the change and will publish a report later this year.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “We’re committed to tackling poverty at all ages and those that have not reached State Pension age can access a range of support such as Universal Credit and other means-tested and disability-related benefit.

“We are also tackling the cost-of-living pressures through a number of measures including increasing the National Minimum Wage, taking £150 off energy bills and launching a new £1billion Crisis and Resilience Fund which will act as a genuine safety net for those in crisis.”