More than six million over-60s say they plan to use the state pension to pay for their care costs, according to a poll from Canada Life.

The financial services firm said 37% of adults over 60-year-olds say they will use the state pension, currently £179.60 a week, to contribute towards their costs of care.

This is a 16% jump compared to a year ago when the firm asked the same question, taking the total to 6.3 million people.

But as the average cost of a care home is between £600 and £800 per week, this group will need to find an additional £400 to £600 a week to afford care.

This funding gap is underpinned by a lack of planning, with 40% of over-60s either not knowing or have not planned how they will pay for their care costs when the time comes.

However, some over-60s plan to use cash savings to pay for care, with 35% of this group saying this would be their source of funding, an increase of two-fifths compared to 2020.

Another 19% say they would use their private pension, an increase of 11% compared to last year.

As many as one in six, or 17%, say they have not thought this far ahead, and 15% expect the government to cover their costs.

The survey found that 8% of over-60s said they would release equity from their home to cover care costs, up from 5% in 2020.

Canada Life head of marketing, insurance Alice Watson says: “As a society, we continue to grapple with the issue of long-term care and who pays for it.

“Recent rumours suggested the government is looking to increase national insurance to help fund the NHS and also pay for social care, but there is no doubt there is a big funding gap.

“These findings indicate that the over-60s have thought more about their long-term care needs in the last year, perhaps in part due to the pandemic.

“However, there are still a worrying number of people who haven’t and think their state pension will be enough to foot the bill.

“We must continue to encourage people to think about their wants and needs at the different stages of retirement and have these conversations early on, no matter how daunting they may be.”