The government is said to be considering moves to speed up the already announced rises in the state pension age.
Legislation is currently going through parliament which will raise the state pension age to 66 by 2020, with proposals then to raise it to 67 by 2036 and then to 68 by 2046, however now ministers are saying that this will take too long and would not keep the retirement age in line with rising life expectancy. They are now considering plans to increase it to 67 a decade earlier, by 2026, although the government has stressed that no firm decisions have yet been taken.
The Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has said that the timetable for raising the retirement age is currently too slow and Pensions Minister Steve Webb has said that action needs to be taken sooner to avoid what he terms a “major pensions crisis”. He says: “Everyone knows we are living longer. It’s like an express train. In a world where you are going to live into your late 80s, and before we know it into your 90s, we think now we have to move on these things.”
However the plans have been criticised by the TUC general secretary. Brendan Barber says that the proposals would affect poorer and manual workers more as they are less likely to be in work in their 60s, while they are also likely to be in more physical jobs that they won’t be able to extend.
