The state pension age could rise to 68 sooner than expected amid concerns over the long-term viability of the triple lock, experts have warned.
Currently, the Government plans to increase the age at which people can claim their state pension to 67 between 2026 and 2028, with a further rise to 68 scheduled between 2044 and 2046.
However, financial experts suggest there is “every chance” this timetable will be accelerated. The warning comes as new figures show life expectancy in the UK is beginning to increase again after stalling during the Covid pandemic.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), life expectancy at birth in the UK currently stands at 78.8 years for men and 82.8 years for women.
Analysts are warning the state pension age could be brought forward sooner than expected
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For those aged 65, men can expect to live a further 18.5 years, while women can expect 21 more years. Despite these figures remaining below pre-pandemic levels, the ONS has recorded ‘marginal’ increases since 2021.
Tom Selby, the director of public policy at AJ Bell, has highlighted the growing financial pressure of state pensions on public finances.
“The average cost of paying state pensions in the UK is now around £125billion,” he said. This substantial sum “risks placing an ever greater burden on taxpayers” as life expectancy continues to improve long-term.
Selby noted that despite recent stalling in life expectancy improvements, “the number of people celebrating their 100th birthday has more than doubled over the last two decades”.
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Notably, the ONS analysis also revealed stark regional disparities in life expectancy across the UK. There is a 10-year gap between areas with the highest and lowest male life expectancy figures.
In Blackpool, Lancashire, men can expect to live to just 73.1 years on average. Meanwhile, in Hart, Hampshire, male life expectancy at birth reaches 83.4 years.
Selby described these differences as presenting “a colossal challenge to a Government which, at some point, will need to address the rapidly mounting cost of state pensions to the Exchequer.”
Furthermore, the retirement expert warned that the timeline for increasing the state pension age to 68 could be accelerated.
“There are already plans in place to increase the state pension age to 67 by 2028 and 68 by 2046, but there is every chance the timetable to 68 will need to be brought forward at some stage,” he said.
This is particularly likely “if public finances remain in the doldrums,” according to the expert.
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However, he cautioned that such a change would have uneven impacts across society.
“The universal nature of the state pension means doing this will inevitably hit the poorest, hardest.”
Selby acknowledged that revisiting the state pension age would “not be something the current administration will want to do,” particularly after the controversy surrounding means-testing of the Winter Fuel Payment.
“At some stage a government will need to face up to this challenge and come to a decision on what the state pension should be worth and for how long people should receive it,” he said.
