UK Shelves Decision on When to Raise Pension Age to 68

The U.K. government is putting off its decision over whether to move up the date when the state pension age will be increased to 68. The delay comes just a few weeks after violent protests erupted in France following a decision by President Emmanuel Macron’s government to raise the pension age to 64 from 62.

In the U.K., 66 is the current state pension age, which is the earliest age when someone can begin receiving publicly funded pension payments. The state pension age, which is independently reviewed every six years, is slated to increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028 and again to 68 between 2044 and 2046.

However, in the most recent review, released last week, it was recommended that the increase to 68 should be moved to between 2041 and 2043. That is four years later than the first review proposed in 2017, but three years sooner than what is provided for under British law. U.K. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride told Parliament that the latest review was unable to take into account the long-term impact of the pandemic and global inflation caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Given the level of uncertainty about the data on life expectancy, labor markets and the public finances, and the significance of these decisions on the lives of millions of people, I am mindful that a different decision might be more appropriate once those factors are clearer,” Stride said. “I therefore plan for a further review to be undertaken within two years of the next Parliament to consider the rise to age 68 again.”

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Stride said he wants to make sure that the state pension “continues to be the foundation of income in retirement for future generations, while also being sustainable and fair.”

He also said that the latest review highlights the challenge of dealing with a growing retirement-age population while maintaining the affordability and fiscal sustainability of the state pension.

“We should celebrate improvements in life expectancy, which has risen rapidly over the past century and is projected to continue to increase,” he said, but added that since the 2017 pension age review, the increase in life expectancy has slowed down.

“In fact, the rapid rises in life expectancy seen over the last century have slowed over the past decade, a trend seen to a varying degree across much of the developed world,” Stride said. “Life expectancy is still projected to improve over time but, compared with the last review of state pension age, those improvements are expected to be achieved at a slower rate.”

Instead of waiting until the next scheduled review in 2029, Stride said another review within two years of the next Parliament will ensure the government can take into account updated life expectancy and population projections that reflect the findings of the 2021 census data. He added that the current rules for the rise from 67 to 68 “remain appropriate” and that the government does not intend to change them.

Speaking for the opposition Labour Party, which said it agreed now is not the right time to move up an increase in the pension age, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Jonathan Ashworth expressed skepticism about the timing, noting that the Conservative Party government changed its tune from five years ago, when it suggested moving the increase to 68 even sooner to between 2037 and 2039. He also said the Labour Party had been accused at the time of being “irresponsible and reckless” when it objected on the grounds of life expectancy trends.

“They told us that bringing forward an increase was necessary for the long-term sustainability of the public finances,” Ashworth said. “Now it turns out that, with a general election only a year or so away and the government trailing so badly in the polls, abandoning the accelerated rise in the state pension age is not so reckless and irresponsible after all.”