THE PROPOSAL to increase the state pension age has been criticised as “immoral” and the government has been warned it would mean the UK would have the highest state pension age in the developed world.

The Centre for Social Justice has proposed increasing the pension age from 65 to 70 by 2028 and then to 75 by 2035, which it claims would boost the economy. A report from the think tank has said that Britain can no longer afford the current plan to raise the pension age to 67 in 2028 and then 68 by 2046. Experts have warned the government that pensioners have not had enough time to prepare for the later age that they are able to receive their state pension.

Former pensions minister Baroness Ros Altman has said in the Daily Mail: “Forcing Britons to work until their mid-70s may help to boost the economy by £182 billion a year, but to me the idea is chilling and immoral.

“It is an outrageous betrayal of people who have worked hard, paid their taxes and made their National Insurance [NI] contributions for decades in the expectation that they will receive at least a basic income so they can retire, rather than being forced to labour until they drop.”

Jamie Jenkins, Head of Global Savings Policy at Standard Life said: “While the cost of the State Pension has continued to rise, it is now largely under control through a combination of raising the age at which it is payable and the amount by which it increases each year.

“Increasing the age at which it is payable to 75 would be a huge departure from the agreed policy of giving people 10 years’ notice for even the gradual changes already announced. It would likely become the highest State Pension age in the developed world.

“It would effectively change the purpose of the State Pension from an income in retirement to an insurance policy against old age.”

Helen Morrissey, pension specialist at Royal London: “While such proposals will undoubtedly save money, raising state pension age so quickly will cause huge issues for many retirees who will not have been given adequate time to prepare.

We need to give careful thought to what kind of jobs people in their 70s are able to do and while some people will be able to work on for longer others simply won’t be able to.

These people will face severe financial hardship if they have not saved enough into a pension to cover the years between leaving work and claiming state pension.

The government needs to think carefully before taking such drastic action.”

According to the report from the think tank, there are a million pension-age Brits who want to work, but are unable to find a job.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman has said: “Everyone’s State Pension age is unique to them and in 2017 we raised the future retirement age to 68 so that it is sustainable now and for future generations.

“We’re creating opportunities for people of all generations with record employment.”

In France the retirement age is 62 and Germany 65 currently.

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