Under LCP’s calculations, anyone aged between 37 and 60 should receive their state pension at 66, rather than 67 as currently planned. The latest population figures put around 21 million people in this age bracket.

This change would deprive the Treasury of at least £195bn in planned savings on state pension expenditure.

Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister and now partner at LCP said: “The Government’s plans for rapid increases in state pension age have been blown out of the water. Even before the pandemic hit, the improvements in life expectancy which we had seen over the last century had almost ground to a halt.  

“But the schedule for state pension age increases has not caught up with this new world. This analysis shows that current plans need to be revisited as a matter of urgency.”

The Government is currently consulting on state pension age increases and will publish its findings by May 2023. Launching the review, the Department for Work and Pensions said it would ensure costs were “robust, fair and transparent”.