Expert warns state pension age ‘has to be 71’ for Brits born after this year

People born after April 1970 will not be able to get their state pension until they are at least 71 or maybe even older, a report into life expectancy has warned.

The DWP pension age of 66 will rise to 67 between May 2026 and March 2028, while those retiring after 2044, will be be expected to be able to take their pension until at least 28

Les Mayhew, associate head of global research at the International Longevity Centre and author of the report State Pension Age and Demographic Change, said the UK’s state pension age would need to be 70 or 71 compared with 66 now.

The rise was needed because of the number of workers needed to help pay for the state pension.

He warned that if preventable ill health was taken into account it could have to increase even more.

The number of people claiming the state pension is projected to rise by 2 million in the next eight years to around 14 million people.

By mid-2032 more than one in 10 (10.3%) of the UK population are projected to be aged 75 and over, compared with about one in 11 (9.1%) in mid-2022.

Scottish Widows’ 20th annual retirement report last year found that younger generations would like to retire even earlier.

People aged 18 to 29 want to retire at 61 typically, and would be prepared to work until 64 on average if necessary – although this would still leave a gap before they reach state pension age.

Across all age groups, more than a quarter (27%) of those who have made retirement plans do not feel that they would ever be able to afford to do it.

Pete Glancy, head of pensions policy at Scottish Widows, said: “The growing gap in retirement outcomes and people’s quality of later life, between those who are currently retired and those who will retire in the future, is of great concern.

“It is likely to be a long time before Britain has been saving enough to give future pensioners the outcomes they hope for.”

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS),  life expectancy at birth for men between 2021 and 2023 in England fell by 1.7 years, and in Wales by 1.1 years, when compared to the years between 2017 and 2019.

For women, it fell by 1.9 years in England and 2.2 years in Wales.

Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis, Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “These figures show a shocking decline in healthy life expectancy in England and Wales in recent years and exposes the dilemma at the heart of our retirement planning – what if we are too ill to work?”

Morrissey pointed out that the state pension age is currently 66 and rising and people often plan on taking their private pensions from their mid-sixties, so there’s a worrying gap in our planning that needs to be filled.

She said: “The picture for life expectancy gets even more concerning when you look at it from a more granular level. Healthy life expectancy at birth was highest in Wokingham and lowest in Blackpool for men, and in Barnsley for women.”