More than a quarter (26%) of UK adults are finding it difficult to get by on their current income, a report indicates. The proportion is a slight increase from 24% who were struggling on their income last year, according to the research commissioned by retirement specialist Standard Life.
How people are coping
In the latest report, 47% of people said they are coping on their income and 27% are living comfortably. Some 43% of retirees feel that they are living comfortably, compared with 23% of those not yet retired, the research indicated.
Among non-retirees, people wanted to retire at around 62 typically, but the average age at which they expected to stop working was around 67. The survey also found that nearly two-thirds (63%) of people worry that they are not saving enough for retirement.
Working longer
People aged 18 to 59 in the survey were also asked whether they could do their current job, or one like it, when they are 60 or 70, according to the 2026 Standard Life Retirement Voice report. More than three-quarters (79%) of people believe they could do their job at the age of 60, but this fell to less than half (48%) for the age of 70.
Catherine Foot, director of the Standard Life Centre for the Future of Retirement, suggested employers need to consider how careers can become more flexible as working lives lengthen. She said: “The goal should be a system that gives people greater confidence and is fair to the people who live with it, giving them choice over when and how they retire, rather than having a later retirement as the default because they feel they have no alternative.”
State pension changes
Last week, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that from April 2030, Labour plans to adjust the triple lock, which is used to increase state pensions each April. The state pension overhaul would help to fund a new National Care Service in England.
Under the plans, the state pension would continue to rise every year at least by CPI (Consumer Prices Index) inflation or 2.5%. The door would still be left open to it rising by more than this if needed in some years, so that the state pension holds its value relative to average worker earnings.
Meanwhile, the state pension age has started a phased rise, gradually increasing in steps from 66 to 67, affecting new pensioners. In May, the Pensions Commission said about 15 million people are thought to be under-saving for their retirement. Women, low and middle earners, and the self-employed are among those who could be particularly at risk, according to the commission.
Standard Life commissioned Ipsos to survey 6,000 people across the UK around June and those taking part were aged 18 to 80.
