The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has responded to calls from Liberal Democrat MP Zöe Franklin to reduce the state pension age to 60 for women and 65 for men. In a parliamentary question, Franklin asked Secretary of State Pat McFadden whether the change had been considered. Torsten Bell, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions, replied that the government is required to regularly review the state pension age under the Pensions Act 2014 and that the third such review is currently underway, assessing rules based on life expectancy data and other evidence.
Bell noted that the pace of state pension age increases was 'hugely, and unfairly, accelerated by the Liberal Democrat and Conservative Coalition Government.' The current state pension age is 66, but it is rising incrementally to 67 over the next two years, affecting those born between 6 April and 5 May 1960 first. The increase is driven by rising life expectancy, with younger workers expecting to remain employed into their 70s.
The DWP is actively raising awareness of the changes, particularly for those born between 1960 and 1961, whose state pension age will be 66 plus a specified number of months based on their exact birth date. For those born between 6 March 1961 and 5 April 1977, the state pension age will be 67. The government continues to assess potential further rises.
A cross-party group of MPs has launched an investigation into the income gap affecting those nearing state pension age, ahead of the rise to 67. The Work and Pensions Committee highlighted that people aged 60-64 are among the most financially vulnerable working-age adults, with 22% (876,000 people) living in poverty in 2023/24. Committee Chair Debbie Abrahams warned that pre-pensioners are particularly exposed, having worked for decades only to face financial hardship before reaching pension age.
