According to reports by the BBC, the UK government is expected to announce today they will push the decision to raise the state pension age past the next general election.
Rishi Sunak’s government is way behind in the polls and increasing the pension age could be construed as a direct attack on their core base.
The state pension age is currently 66 and is set to rise to 67 by 2028 and 68 by 2048. There was an expectation the government raise the pension age to 68 sooner than the currently scheduled 2048.
The announcement to hold the pension age where it is will be made at a time French towns and cities continue to be rocked by protests following the decision by the French President to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.
“Given we have literally seen rioting on the streets in France in response to a proposed rise in the state pension age, it comes as no surprise that the UK government has backed away from the idea of accelerating a planned rise in the UK state pension age to 68,” said Tom Selby, head of retirement policy at AJ Bell.
Selby continues to explain how such as decision would be ‘political suicide’.
“With less than two years to go until the general election, hiking the state pension age faster would likely have been political suicide for the Conservatives, who are already trailing Labour in the polls.
“The decision will come as a huge relief to people in their late 40s and early 50s who could potentially have been forced to wait an extra 12 months to receive their state pension as a result.
“Increasing the state pension age faster now would also arguably have been unfair, as average life expectancy has actually fallen recently, while forecasts of future life expectancy improvements have also been significantly scaled back. Given improving life expectancy is one of the primary justifications for raising the state pension age, accelerating the planned rise to age 68 when life expectancy has dipped would be an extremely tough sell, to put it mildly.”
