Government Response

The Government responded to this petition on Friday 6th September 2019

Under current law State Pension age (SPa) will reach 66 by October 2020, increases to 67 by 2028 and 68 by 2046. Government reviews SPa regularly to ensure State Pension remains fair and affordable.

There is no Government proposal to increase SPa to 70. The recommendation was made in a recent report published by the Centre for Social Justice. This is not a Government report.

Changes to State Pension age were made by successive governments from 1995 onwards, following public consultation and extensive debates in both Houses of Parliament. The law to increase SPa to 66, 67 and 68 was originally made in 2007 by the Labour government, with broad Parliamentary agreement. Under the current law men and womens’ SPa will reach 66 by October 2020, with further rises to 67 by 2028 and to 68 by 2046.

People are living for longer. For example, a girl born in 1951 was expected to live to 81.6 years and a boy to 77.0 years. By 2019 this had increased to 92.4 and 89.7 for newly born girls and boys. The Government reviews SPa every 6 years, to take into account changes in life expectancy and other relevant factors. The first review was completed in 2017 and proposed bringing forward the rise in SPa to 68 by 7 years, to take place by 2039. The SPa review can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/630065/state-pension-age-review-final-report.pdf

It followed an independent review which was led by the former Chair of the Confederation of British Industry John Cridland, and the proposal to bring forward the increase in SPa to 68 was in line with his recommendation on when the next increase should take place. These changes will not be made law until the Government has reviewed future life expectancy projections. The independent review can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/611460/independent-review-of-the-state-pension-age-smoothing-the-transition.pdf

The Government has done lots to improve pensions for everyone, particularly women. Future women pensioners will benefit on average from a higher new State Pension payment, and from the expansion of Automatic Enrolment. A woman retiring today can still expect to receive the State Pension for over 2 years longer than men. If SPa had not been equalised, women would spend on average over 40% of their adult life in retirement. The SPa reviews are based around the principle that people should spend a similar proportion of their adult life receiving the State Pension as the generation before them. This ensures fairness between different age groups and means that people retiring in future should not have a better or worse deal than people retiring today.

Any amendments that reverse the changes to SPa already established would result in significant costs to the public purse. The Government estimates that over the period 2010/11 to 2025/26 the total additional costs for the State Pension would be around £206 billion, in 2018/19 prices. These costs would increase to around £215 billion when taking into account the costs of other pensioner benefits and savings made on in-work benefits (Pension Credit, Winter Fuel Payment, Employment Support Allowance, Jobseekers Allowance, Income Support and Universal Credit). Reversing the changes could also create a new inequality between men and women. The costings can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/analysis-relating-to-state-pension-age-changes-from-the-1995-and-2011-pensions-acts/analysis-relating-to-state-pension-age-changes-from-the-1995-and-2011-pensions-acts

The Government is helping older people remain in and return to work. There are more people aged 50-64 in employment than ever before; employment levels for older workers (aged 50+) are currently over 10 million. The ‘Fuller Working Lives Strategy: A Partnership Approach’, published in February 2017, aims to help older workers remain in or return to employment, and to change employer’s attitudes. Government changed the law to create the right working environment to support older workers as part of the Fuller Working Lives strategy. For example, removing the Default Retirement Age, extending the right to request flexible working and supporting employers to recruit, re-train and retain older workers. A link to the document can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/587654/fuller-working-lives-a-partnership-approach.pdf

This Government believes that everyone deserves dignity and security in retirement. As a result of the introduction of the triple lock, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension is now over £675 higher than if it had just been up-rated by earnings since April 2010. That’s a rise of over £1,600 in cash terms. The new State Pension, the State Pension age review framework, workplace pensions through automatic enrolment, and the development of policies and action in support of fuller working lives, will provide for a coherent strategy that will strengthen and sustain the UK’s pensions system for many decades to come.

Department for Work and Pensions.