3 days ago
Nigel Farage warns State Pension age 'will have to rise' faster than expected
Nigel Farage has warned that the State Pension age will have to rise ahead of its planned date of 2046.
Currently plans have the pension age rising to 67 in 2028 and 68 by 2046, but the Reform UK leader has suggested that his party would speed this process up if they were to win power.
Farage explained: 'I don't think we can really afford to [wait to the 2040s], to be frank.
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'If there is a sudden economic miracle, then it might change that. But it does not look to be happening any time soon.
'I don't think the country has any choice. The state pension age will gradually have to be increased, in line with life expectancy. There is little doubt about it.'
His comments come after the state pension age review, which was recently defended by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) boss Liz Kendall on Monday (July 21) launched an official review into the State Pension age.
Reeves explained: "As life expectancy increases it is right to look at the state pension age to ensure that the state pension is sustainable and affordable for generations to come."
Elaine Smith, the interim deputy director for Work at the Centre for Ageing Better, said: "The last time the state pension age rose, nearly 100,000 more 65-year-olds were pushed into poverty while waiting to collect their state pension, with poverty rates for this age group doubling in the wake of the rise."
Smith explained: "Any reform or review of pensions in this country must recognise that the traditional retirement cliff-edge, where people moved directly from full-time work to no work, is no longer the case for the majority.
"Government policy needs to catch up with this fundamental change."
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