Linda, a retired hairdresser from Wokingham, told the BBC she was worried her state pension was being pushed towards the tax threshold.
“They’re giving it on one hand and it’s taken away in the other, so that’s not a load of good,” she said.
“If they could raise the tax threshold it would make a huge difference”.
The pensioner said she would struggle to manage on the state pension if she lived on her own.
“I’m lucky that my husband’s got a good pension so we have a fairly reasonable lifestyle but if left alone I don’t know what would happen to be honest.”
According to the ONS, regular wage growth – excluding bonuses – dropped to 4.8% in the three months to July, down from 5% in the previous three months and the lowest since May 2022.
Liz McKeown, the ONS director of economic statistics, said salary increases remained “strong by historic standards” despite it edging down further in cash terms.
However, Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG, said earnings growth was “likely to continue to decline over the coming year”.
“Demand for workers has fallen sharply due to a combination of weaker economic activity and businesses facing higher labour costs. As a result, we expect wage growth to fall below 4% by the end of the year,” she added.