The Government’s timetable should be accelerated by 15 years, with the state pension age rising to 68 by 2031, to keep up with an ageing population, the report said. This means those age 57 today would have to wait an extra year to unlock their state payouts. The change would keep the ratio of people in work to those on the state pension in balance and ease the funding burden, it said. However, the state pension age would have to rise to 70 by 2040.
The Government could also link the state pension age increases to improvements in life expectancy, which would trim 6pc off its total costs, the report found. This would require an increase to age 68 by 2032.
In December, the Government launched a statutory review into increasing the state pension age, with findings set to be published in May 2023. There are plans to accelerate the current timetable, to increase the state pension age from 67 to 68 between 2037 and 2039, seven years earlier than the previously legislated date.
A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “The review will consider whether the rules around state pension age are appropriate, based on a wide range of evidence including latest life expectancy data.”
Any changes to the state pension age have previously proven to be controversial. Millions of so-called “Waspi” women argued they had been discriminated against after the Government equalised the state pension ages for men and women between 2010 and 2020.
