The average person nearing pension age currently spends £320.70 a week on essential living costs such as utilities, bills, food and clothing. This equates to £1,379 on average per calendar month.

But people receiving the new State Pension, which launches tomorrow, will have to cope on a maximum handout of just £669.30 a month, according to research from Skipton Building Society’s RetireSavvy platform.

As a result, new retirees will be forced to cut their spending on things such as eating out, socialising, house maintenance, DIY and travel.

The research also found that 42% of those polled had no idea that the maximum new State Pension would be £155.65 per week.

Almost one in six said they were shocked at the figure and claim they’ll never be able to cope, while 21% said they were worried and would need to find a new source of income.

Andrew Sheen, editor of  retiresavvy.co.uk said: “It’s amazing how many people don’t know how much State Pension they can expect. Although the New State Pension that comes in from 6 April is more generous than the system it replaces, it’s still less than half of what the average 50-65 year-old currently needs to live on.

“If they get to State Pension Age without having their own plans in place, a lot of people will have a big surprise and face a huge change in the kind of lifestyle they can afford.”