Latest news with #retirement age
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
RMT union threatens strikes if Labour raises state pension age
A rail union boss has threatened to launch national strikes if Labour raises the state pension age. Eddie Dempsey, general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), warned the Government he would 'lead our movement onto the streets and will not hesitate to protest nationally and take coordinated direct action'. His threat came after Labour opened the door for the statutory retirement age to be raised by announcing a new pensions review on Monday. The move, unveiled by Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, raises the prospect that six million Britons could be forced to delay their retirements. On Thursday, Mr Dempsey warned: 'If this Government makes any move to drastically increase the retirement age, we intend to lead our movement onto the streets and will not hesitate to protest nationally and take coordinated direct action. 'The UK state pension is already one of the worst in the entire developed world which is a direct result of decades of governments transferring both our national and personal wealth to the super rich. 'Any decision to squeeze more out of working people by forcing us to work even longer would be a national disgrace.' Instead of raising the state pension age, Mr Dempsey said the Government should impose a wealth tax on assets of over £2 million. Although the RMT is not formally affiliated to Labour, the union commands a largely public sector membership numbering around 83,000 people. Under current plans, the state pension age is on course to rise to 67 by 2028 and to 68 by 2046. However, raising the retirement age sooner than planned is politically controversial, with previous plans to do so abandoned by Jeremy Hunt, the former Chancellor, amid concerns he would struggle to justify the change. The RMT strike threat comes after Nigel Farage also backed Labour's suggestions that the state pension age must rise. The Reform UK leader said on Tuesday: 'I don't think we can really afford to [wait to the 2040s], to be frank. If there is a sudden economic miracle, then it might change that. But it does not look to be happening any time soon.' Ms Kendall said this week she was 'under no illusions' about the scale of the challenges facing both workers and the public purse as the country ages. 'Many workers are more concerned about putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads than saving for a retirement that seems a long way away, and many businesses face huge challenges in keeping profitable and flexible in an increasingly uncertain world,' she said.
The Independent
6 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Two million pensioners in the UK are currently in poverty
Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has warned of a potential 'tsunami of pensioner poverty' without major reform and indicated a possible increase in the state retirement age. The Commons Work and Pensions Committee has urged the government to establish a national strategy to combat pensioner poverty, including setting a minimum income for a dignified retirement. Age UK reports that two million pensioners are currently in poverty, a figure expected to rise, with the committee's report noting a significant increase in pensioner poverty since 2010. MPs are calling for improved take-up of pension credits, as an estimated 700,000 eligible households are missing out on up to £4,000 annually and other vital benefits. The report highlights long-term concerns such as people renting into later life and the strain poverty places on health and social care systems, while the government maintains support for pensioners is a priority.
Daily Mail
22-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Could the state pension age really rise to 74?
A new review of the state pension age has triggered speculation that it may have to rise substantially to contain rapidly rising costs. The state pension age is going to rise from 66 to 67 within the next couple of years, and the next increase after that is now officially up for debate. The Government is required by law to review the state pension age every six years, so it has ordered two reports which will look at when to hike to 68. But a recent report by independent think tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, warned that without reform of the state pension triple lock , the retirement age would have to rise to 74 by 2069. Could this really happen? We explain what you need to know about the state pension age and why it could increase. What is happening to the state pension age? The studies, one by the government's actuary and the other by an independent expert, are expected to consider the link between when you can draw the state pension and life expectancy, intergenerational fairness, and the bill borne by taxpayers. The state pension is currently almost £12,000 a year if you have paid enough qualifying national insurance years to receive the full amount. The qualifying age will rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028. The next rise to 68 is technically not scheduled until the mid 2040s, which will affect those born from 6 April 1977. The last two reports in 2017 and 2023 recommended speeding up the increase to 68, but the Conservative government ignored them, and current Labour leaders could do the same. Will the state pension age have to rise faster? The Government has effectively, if not in so many words, told the experts working on the next two reports to operate under the assumption that the triple lock pledge will remain in place indefinitely. This means that the state pension increases every year by the highest of inflation , average earnings growth or 2.5 per cent. The Government has promised to stick to the triple lock for the whole of this parliament. Pension experts are weighing in on the chances of a state pension age rise to 68 in the near future, and the trade-offs with the triple lock in terms of the cost to taxpayers. A recent report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies pointed to government modelling on how to limit public spending on the state pension to below 6 per cent of national income. To achieve this AND retain the triple lock state pension guarantee, it worked out the state pension age would have to rise to 69 by 2048–49, and then jump to 74 by 2068–69 - which would be bad news for people in their 30s and younger now. Nerves were also rattled lately when Denmark's government moved to hike its retirement age to 70 by 2040. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the minimum pension age for accessing workplace and other private retirement savings is due to rise from 55 to 57 from April 2028. Governments have in the past tended to keep the state pension and private pension ages roughly 10 years apart, so any future increases could well continue to happen in tandem. This combined with a faster rise in the state pension age could cause a serious headache for those hoping to retire earlier. Triple lock is 'elephant in the room' 'The third state pension age review will be watched like a hawk by swathes of middle-aged workers,' says Jason Hollands, managing director of Evelyn Partners. 'The triple lock is not within the remit of the Commission, but it is in some respects another elephant in the room, as while it remains it seems inevitable that state pension ages must be raised. 'That's not so much a problem for wealthier savers who can fund a few years of retirement wholly from private income. 'It's more of one for less well-off workers who might have to work until and even beyond state pension age, and then also might not have as many years of life expectancy to draw on the state pension.. 'Would a lower state pension at an earlier age be fairer than a higher one at a later age? It's a question worth asking.' State pension costs are set to spiral 'There is an increase to age 68 pencilled in for 2046, but a faster increase is definitely on the cards,' says Rachel Vahey, head of public policy at AJ Bell. 'The first two reviews of the state pension age advocated bringing this forward, but successive governments have treated the issue like a hot potato. 'This latest state pension age review, however, may eventually force the government's hand. 'State pension benefits are one of the single biggest expenses for the Treasury and account for more than 80 per cent of the £175billion pensioner welfare bill. 'Without policy intervention, state pension costs are set to spiral to nearly 8 per cent of GDP over the next 50 years based on the current trajectory, up from 5.2 per cent today. 'The second state pension age review in 2023 recommended that the increase to 68 should be introduced between 2041 and 2043 to help reduce costs, although the government under Rishi Sunak opted not to commit to that timetable. 'However, the new Labour government may feel it needs to consider the rise to age 68 more closely, particularly if it wants to demonstrate steps toward long-term fiscal prudence.' Triple lock vs state pension age - a hard choice 'The Government instructs the reviewers to assume "current policies regarding the entitlement and value of the state pension remain unchanged over the long term",' says Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon. 'The future value of the state pension is currently set by the triple lock. The Government has not committed to retaining the triple lock beyond this Parliament but has instructed the review to assume it continues indefinitely. 'While some may take comfort in this, it could be false comfort. The purpose of the review is to look at the age the state pension starts from and the role this plays in managing the long-term sustainability of the state pension. 'As other reports have shown, the triple lock puts the long-term sustainability of the state pension under huge pressure. So the conclusions from the review may be that if the triple lock continues, state pension age will have to go up further and faster than if it didn't continue.' 'For those already receiving their state pension, any threat to the triple lock will be bad news. 'But for those who haven't yet reached state pension age, the consequence of an ongoing triple lock could be having to wait extra years before receiving their state pension. 'That's a hard choice, but it's one we need to face up to as a nation. Undertaking this independent review will allow the Government to set out these choices to the voting public.'
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Should the state pension age be raised above 66? Have your say
Yahoo UK's poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week's hot topics. After the poll closes, we'll publish and analyse the results each Friday, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers. A review into raising the state pension age is needed to ensure the system is "sustainable and affordable for generations to come", Rachel Reeves has said. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the chancellor said that as life expectancy increases, it is "right" to look at the age at which people can begin receiving their state pension. The state pension age is currently 66, rising to 67 by 2028, and to 68 between 2044 and 2046, although some have suggested this date could be brought forward. By the 2070s, the number of pensioners in the UK is expected to have increased by more than 50%, while the working age population will have only grown by around 10%, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said as she announced a separate review into pensions adequacy. This clearly puts pressure on the government, with the Treasury spending around £138bn on the state pension last year, equivalent to 5% of GDP. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects this to rise to 7.7% by the early 2070s. Head of public policy at AJ Bell, Rachel Vahey, said an ageing population "places an increasing burden on taxpayers", and that while future governments may hope for an "improved economy and growing tax receipts", this "can't be guaranteed". The Institute for Fiscal Studies claimed increasing the state pension age is a "coherent response" to people living longer, but warned it "affects poorer people more, as well as those who find it more difficult to remain in paid work at older ages". It said any savings from delaying payouts should be "recycled into making universal credit more generous for those in the run-up to that age". Disabilities and caring responsibilities in older age, which could leave people unable to work, is also a consideration, with the International Longevity Centre UK noting that these factors "vary significantly by region and social class". But what do you think, is raising the state pension age inevitable? Or do you think the current level of 66 strikes a fair balance? Let us know in the polls below. The "elephant in the room", as Vahey describes it, is that the state pension age is "just one lever government has to help manage the cost of the state pension". The other is reforming the triple lock, a cast-iron guarantee that state pensions will rise every year by 2.5%, CPI inflation, or the rise in average earnings, whichever is highest. Yesterday Kendall said that the triple lock is "out of scope" of the newly resurrected Pensions Commission, which will be leading a review into the adequacy of the pensions system. Labour has already committed to keeping the triple lock, which first came into force in 2011, for the entirety of this Parliament. This puts considerable pressure on the Treasury's finances, however, with the OBR expecting the annual cost of this policy to reach £15.5bn by 2030. It said spending on the policy has risen by as much as three times the figure projected in 2012 and questioned whether taxpayers can realistically continue paying for it. 'The UK cannot afford the array of promises that it has made to the public,' the fiscal watchdog's chairman Richard Hughes said. It would be wrong to scrap the pensions triple lock to cover the cost of spiralling on fixed incomes shouldn't pay the price for a broken system. — Sir Alec Shelbrooke MP (@AlecShelbrooke) July 21, 2025 'Precisely what the government does in response to these pressures and the choices that ultimately every country is going to have to make about how they afford their welfare states and their wider public services commitments are issues for politicians.' However, supporters of the triple lock said it helps improve the adequacy of retirement incomes for current and future pensioners, particularly those on lower incomes. A Commons research briefing added that the UK state pension is "low in an international context", with separate Parliamentary figures showing an overall 55.4% replacement rate of pre-retirement earnings from mandatory pensions, compared to an average of 61.4% among similar economies. The government may have tied its hands for now on this issue, but Vahey said that if the newly announced review calls for the state pension age timetable to be accelerated, it "could provide some cover for future governments to look at reforming the triple lock" to avert more dramatic back on Friday to read the results and analysis via the link below. Read more of Yahoo UK's Poll of the Week articles
Daily Mail
22-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Could the state pension age really rise to 74? Why the 'triple lock' may mean a longer wait for younger workers
A new review of the state pension age has triggered speculation that it may have to rise substantially to contain rapidly rising costs. The state pension age is going to rise from 66 to 67 within the next couple of years, and the next increase after that is now officially up for debate. The Government is required by law to review the state pension age every six years, so it has ordered two reports which will look at when to hike to 68. But a recent report by independent think tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, warned that without reform of the state pension triple lock, the retirement age would have to rise to 74 by 2069. Could this really happen? We explain what you need to know about the state pension age and why it could increase. What is happening to the state pension age? The studies, one by the government's actuary and the other by an independent expert, are expected to consider the link between when you can draw the state pension and life expectancy, intergenerational fairness, and the bill borne by taxpayers. The state pension is currently almost £12,000 a year if you have paid enough qualifying national insurance years to receive the full amount. The qualifying age will rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028. The next rise to 68 is technically not scheduled until the mid 2040s, which will affect those born from 6 April 1977. The last two reports in 2017 and 2023 recommended speeding up the increase to 68, but the Conservative government ignored them, and current Labour leaders could do the same. > How much does a comfortable retirement cost? What YOU will need Will the state pension age have to rise faster? The Government has effectively, if not in so many words, told the experts working on the next two reports to operate under the assumption that the triple lock pledge will remain in place indefinitely. This means that the state pension increases every year by the highest of inflation, average earnings growth or 2.5 per cent. The Government has promised to stick to the triple lock for the whole of this parliament. Pension experts are weighing in on the chances of a state pension age rise to 68 in the near future, and the trade-offs with the triple lock in terms of the cost to taxpayers. A recent report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies pointed to government modelling on how to limit public spending on the state pension to below 6 per cent of national income. To achieve this AND retain the triple lock state pension guarantee, it worked out the state pension age would have to rise to 69 by 2048–49, and then jump to 74 by 2068–69 - which would be bad news for people in their 30s and younger now. Nerves were also rattled lately when Denmark's government moved to hike its retirement age to 70 by 2040. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the minimum pension age for accessing workplace and other private retirement savings is due to rise from 55 to 57 from April 2028. Governments have in the past tended to keep the state pension and private pension ages roughly 10 years apart, so any future increases could well continue to happen in tandem. This combined with a faster rise in the state pension age could cause a serious headache for those hoping to retire earlier. > In your 30s or younger? How to plan ahead for a higher state pension age Triple lock is 'elephant in the room' 'The third state pension age review will be watched like a hawk by swathes of middle-aged workers,' says Jason Hollands, managing director of Evelyn Partners. 'The triple lock is not within the remit of the Commission, but it is in some respects another elephant in the room, as while it remains it seems inevitable that state pension ages must be raised. 'That's not so much a problem for wealthier savers who can fund a few years of retirement wholly from private income. 'It's more of one for less well-off workers who might have to work until and even beyond state pension age, and then also might not have as many years of life expectancy to draw on the state pension.. 'Would a lower state pension at an earlier age be fairer than a higher one at a later age? It's a question worth asking.' State pension costs are set to spiral 'There is an increase to age 68 pencilled in for 2046, but a faster increase is definitely on the cards,' says Rachel Vahey, head of public policy at AJ Bell. 'The first two reviews of the state pension age advocated bringing this forward, but successive governments have treated the issue like a hot potato. 'This latest state pension age review, however, may eventually force the government's hand. 'State pension benefits are one of the single biggest expenses for the Treasury and account for more than 80 per cent of the £175billion pensioner welfare bill. 'Without policy intervention, state pension costs are set to spiral to nearly 8 per cent of GDP over the next 50 years based on the current trajectory, up from 5.2 per cent today. 'The second state pension age review in 2023 recommended that the increase to 68 should be introduced between 2041 and 2043 to help reduce costs, although the government under Rishi Sunak opted not to commit to that timetable. 'However, the new Labour government may feel it needs to consider the rise to age 68 more closely, particularly if it wants to demonstrate steps toward long-term fiscal prudence.' Triple lock vs state pension age - a hard choice 'The Government instructs the reviewers to assume "current policies regarding the entitlement and value of the state pension remain unchanged over the long term",' says Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon. 'The future value of the state pension is currently set by the triple lock. The Government has not committed to retaining the triple lock beyond this Parliament but has instructed the review to assume it continues indefinitely. 'While some may take comfort in this, it could be false comfort. The purpose of the review is to look at the age the state pension starts from and the role this plays in managing the long-term sustainability of the state pension. 'As other reports have shown, the triple lock puts the long-term sustainability of the state pension under huge pressure. So the conclusions from the review may be that if the triple lock continues, state pension age will have to go up further and faster than if it didn't continue.' 'For those already receiving their state pension, any threat to the triple lock will be bad news. 'But for those who haven't yet reached state pension age, the consequence of an ongoing triple lock could be having to wait extra years before receiving their state pension. 'That's a hard choice, but it's one we need to face up to as a nation. Undertaking this independent review will allow the Government to set out these choices to the voting public.'
