The House of Lords have passed a legislation that will see the state pension age increase to 66, and will apply to everyone retiring after April 2020.
One of the key reasons behind the move is the increase in life expectancy, with the average person in the UK expected to live to 86 now, 5 years longer than 30 years ago in 1981.
Plans to increase the state pension age to 66 were originally pencilled in for 2026, although based on the previous life expectancy increase, the average person would live to 88 ½ by that point.
The bill, which passed through the House of Lords without objection, and will now be passed on to the House of Commons, before it is made official.
The Pensions Bill will also move the age that women retire to be the same as men, as the five year gap is gradually closed over the next seven years, with women and men both hitting state pension age at 65 together in 2018, and both moving to 66 in 2020.
The move has been moved forward by worries surrounding the number of pensioners, as with life expectancy increasing people are claiming their pension for longer making the scheme unaffordable.
The minister for welfare reform, Lord Freud explained the urgency behind the move and said, “With every new demographic forecast, there comes a continuing increase in life expectancy,”
He added, “The Office for Budget Responsibility projected that the impact of an ageing society could potentially wipe out any progress on deficit reduction.”
The move has been met with understandable concern from those approaching retirement, as they see the retirement age move further and further away, just as they begin to look forward to finishing work.
Teachers Unions have also objected, claiming that teachers in the mid sixties would struggle with the demands of teaching a class of energetic teenagers.
Labour politicians have called for the move to be slowed down, although their calls have fallen on deaf ears. Lord McKenzie, Labours work and pensions spokesperson called the move “a clear breach of the coalition agreement.”
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