The ongoing increase in the State Pension age in the UK will affect when older people turning 66 in September can start claiming their State Pension from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The State Pension age is currently rising from 66 to 67, having begun on April 6 this year.
Phased increase over two years
The age rise is being phased in gradually in one-month increments over a two-year period due to complete in 2028. It will affect when people turning 66 within this transitionary period become eligible to claim their State Pension. The length of the delay depends on when your 66th birthday falls, with the DWP timetable meaning some people will be just a month or two away from turning 67 before they can get their first payment.
Next phase begins in September
The next phase of the age increase is due to get underway next month, affecting anyone born between September 6, 1960, and October 5, 1960. Older people born within these dates face an extra six-month wait before they can claim their State Pension. So if you were born on September 6, 1960, you will become eligible to claim your State Pension on February 6, 2027, when you are exactly 66 years and six months old.
Full DWP timetable for the age rise
State Pension eligibility becomes further delayed the later in the year your 66th birthday falls, increasing by one month each time. Those turning 66 in the month from October 6 face an extra seven-month wait, while those turning 66 in the month from November 6 face an extra eight-month wait, and so on until the age rise to 67 is complete. The DWP timetable for the increase from 66 to 67 shows when people with birthdays between April 6, 1960, and March 5, 1961 can claim their State Pension:
- April 6, 1960 – May 5, 1960: 66 years and 1 month
- May 6, 1960 – June 5, 1960: 66 years and 2 months
- June 6, 1960 – July 5, 1960: 66 years and 3 months
- July 6, 1960 – August 5, 1960: 66 years and 4 months
- August 6, 1960 – September 5, 1960: 66 years and 5 months
- September 6, 1960 – October 5, 1960: 66 years and 6 months
- October 6, 1960 – November 5, 1960: 66 years and 7 months
- November 6, 1960 – December 5, 1960: 66 years and 8 months
- December 6, 1960 – January 5, 1961: 66 years and 9 months
- January 6, 1961 – February 5, 1961: 66 years and 10 months
- February 6, 1961 – March 5, 1961: 66 years and 11 months
- March 6, 1961 – April 5, 1977: 67 years
The DWP said: "The Pensions Act 2014 brought the increase in the State Pension age from 66 to 67 forward by eight years. The State Pension age for men and women will now increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028."
The Government also changed the way in which the increase in State Pension age is phased so that rather than reaching State Pension age on a specific date, people born between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961 will reach their State Pension age at 66 years and the specified number of months. For people born after 5 April 1969 but before 6 April 1977, under the Pensions Act 2007, State Pension age was already 67.
