The State Pension age in the UK is currently rising from 66 to 67, and the next phase of the increase begins this month, affecting anyone born between October 6, 1960, and November 5, 1960. Pensioners due to turn 66 during this period will face an extra seven-month wait before they can claim their State Pension from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Phased increase over two years
The age increase is being phased in gradually in one-month increments over a two-year period and will be completed by 2028. For those turning 66 within the two-year transitional period, the point at which they can start claiming their State Pension depends on when their 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.
So if you were born on October 6, 1960, the age increase means you will become eligible to claim your State Pension on May 6, 2027, when you are exactly 66 years and seven months old. State Pension eligibility becomes further delayed the later in the year your 66th birthday falls, increasing by one month each time. It means those turning 66 in the month from November 6 face an extra eight-month wait, while those turning 66 in the month from December 6 face an extra nine-month wait, and so on until the age rise to 67 is complete.
DWP timetable for the increase
Listed is the DWP timetable for the State Pension age increase from 66 to 67, which shows when people with birthdays between April 6, 1960, and March 5, 1961, can claim their State Pension, with the next phase getting underway from October 6:
- 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
Official statement on the change
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.
