The Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) has been commissioned to prepare a report on the state pension age as part of the third state pension age review.
The review will evaluate how current and future demographic trends could affect the rules around state pension eligibility, which is currently 66 for both men and women. The pension age is set to rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028, and to 68 between 2044 and 2046.
The third review will assess whether the current rules ensure that, on average, individuals reaching state pension age within a specified period can expect to spend a fair and consistent proportion of their adult life in retirement. It will consider an independent report led by Dr Suzy Morrissey as well as GAD’s analysis of life expectancy projections and their impact on pensionable age rules.
Reviews are conducted regularly and are mandated by the Pensions Act 2014 with the previous two completed in 2017 and 2023.
This statutory review coincides with the re-establishment of the Pensions Commission, which will take a broader look at the UK’s retirement savings system. The original Commission, established in 2002, played a key role in shaping modern pension policy particularly around the introduction of auto-enrolment and reforms to the state pension.
Pensions Minister Torsten Bell MP said the role of the revived Pensions Commission will be to review the pensions system as a whole and the retirement outcomes it delivers, with “a clear objective: building a strong, fair and sustainable pension system fit for the middle of the twenty-first century.”