The Labour Government is “considering” bringing forward increases” to the state pension age despite experts agreeing that life expectancy in the UK was stalling,
GB News has reported that research suggested the official retirement age needs to rise to 71 by 2050 for payments to remain affordable.
A study by the International Longevity Centre (ILC) warned that the UK faces “widening demographic imbalances” that will put increasing pressure on Government finances.
It claimed Britain was heading towards a future where there will be just one working-age adult for every pensioner by 2050.”
Earlier this month, the Daily Express reported that the UK’s state pension will become unaffordable by 2035
The Adam Smith Insitute said that in 2021, the State Pension had a total obligation to the British people of £8.9 trillion, an amount that was set to balloon even further due to the ratchet effect of the triple lock.
The average person born in 1956 will receive £291,000 more than they put in, it claimed.
Under current government plans, the state pension age will increase from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028; a further rise to 68 is planned between 2044 and 2046.
Jonathan Gribb, an associate director at the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), told GB News that ministers will soon review the timeline for pension age increases to avoid such a scenario.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), life expectancy at birth for men between 2021 and 2023 in England fell by 1.7 years, and in Wales by 1.1 years, when compared to the years between 2017 and 2019.
For women, it fell by 1.9 years in England and 2.2 years in Wales.
Experts argue the decline in healthy life expectancy should form a key part in the debate into whether it should rise further.
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis, Hargreaves Lansdown, said the state pension age is currently 66 and rising and people often plan on taking their private pensions from their mid-sixties, so there’s a worrying gap in our planning that needs to be filled.
