British workers will soon need to work until the age of 71, experts claim amid UK's aging population

6 February 2024, 19:47 | Updated: 6 February 2024, 19:49

A mechanical engineer works in an industrial factory. Experts suggest the UK pension age could rise to 71
A mechanical engineer works in an industrial factory. Experts suggest the UK pension age could rise to 71. Picture: Alamy

By Kit Heren

The British pension age may soon need to rise to 71, experts have warned amid growing life expectancy and falling birthrates.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The current pension age of 66 is due to rise to 67 between May 2026 and March 2028, and will hit 68 in 2044.

But with an aging population and its greater burden on the state pension, researchers are warning this will not be enough and, instead, anyone born after 1970 will need to work until 71.

This may have to increase even further, experts say, if people continue to exit the workforce before they reach the state pension age.

"In the UK, state pension age would need to be 70 or 71 compared with 66 now, to maintain the status quo of the number of workers per state pensioner," Les Mayhew, author of the report State Pension Age and Demographic Change said.

"But if you bring preventable ill health into the equation, that would have to increase even more,”

Senior couple of people with walking sticks crossing a road in the UK
Senior couple of people with walking sticks crossing a road in the UK. Picture: Alamy

Read More: Police called after hundreds of people queue for six hours to try and register with an NHS dentist

Read More: 'Slow death' of NHS dentistry as 80% of clinics stop taking new patients - is your practice affected?

Mayhew has previously advised the government on the state pension age in his previous role as a civil servant and in his current role as professor of statistics at Bayes Business School.

Only 50 per cent of adults aged 70 in England and Wales are considered disability-free and able to work.

This smaller working and inactive population reduces the tax base for the state pension.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said pensioner benefits will cost the UK government £136 billion between 2023 and 2024. Almost all of this, £124 billion will be spent on state pensions.

However, other analysts said the government should look at other cost-saving measures before raising the state pension age.

Pensioners sitting on the beach at Lyme Regis, Dorset, UK
Pensioners sitting on the beach at Lyme Regis, Dorset, UK. Picture: Alamy

Read More: The government needs a buoyant private sector to improve public services and fix the NHS

Read More: NatWest share sale could be in June at the ‘very earliest’, Government group says

Jonathan Cribb, the associate director and head of retirement at the Institute of Fiscal Studies, said he did not disagree with the need to raise the pension age in the future, but said doing so without reviewing other options was not “realistic or equitable”.

“It would disproportionately impact poorer individuals whose ill-health means they have shorter lives, and so who receive pensions for less time,” he said.

A spokesperson for the UK government said: "We have committed £70million in employment and skills support for the over-50s, which has seen an extra 54,000 over-50s added to company payrolls.

"Our £2.5billion Back to Work plan is supporting people to stay fit and find work, in addition to £14.1billion to improve health services to help people live longer, healthier lives.”

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Palma is on lockdown amid warnings of heavy rain

Majorca on lockdown as tourist hotspot faces flooding horror after storm kills more than 200

UK GP visiting senior woman at home

Care homes and GPs could face closure under Labour tax plans, health leaders warn

Rebekah Vardy 'threatens to reignite war with Coleen Rooney'

Rebekah Vardy launches appeal against Wagatha Christie £1.8m costs ruling

Alexandra Palace Hosts Its Annual Fireworks Display Ahead Of Bonfire Night

Bonfire night 2024 forecast: What will the weather be like for fireworks night?

Darrian Williams

Two teen boys found guilty after 16-year-old stabbed to death by masked attackers in Bristol park

Westminster Protest

'Betrayed' farmers to protest over Labour's inheritance tax raid - as Chancellor insists changes are 'fair'

Police crime scene tape UK

Six teenagers arrested after 13-year-old girl left with life-threatening injuries in East Yorkshire stabbing

Israel claims to have killed a high-ranking member of Hamas

Israel 'eliminates' one of Hamas' last high-ranking officials

Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales attend a Service of Thanksgiving to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee

King Charles 'finally cuts Prince Andrew off' as he 'axes Duke's annual £1m allowance'

Claw hammer-wielding public schoolboy who attacked sleeping students and teacher handed life sentence

Pictured: Public schoolboy, 17, who attacked sleeping students and teacher with hammers he kept 'for zombie apocalypse'

Emergency and rescue personnel work at the site where a concrete outdoor roof of a train station collapsed in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad

Train station canopy collapses in Serbia, killing 8 people in horror accident, with more victims still trapped in rubble

The passengers was fined £48 despite their bag fitting.

Air passenger shames easyJet on TikTok after he was charged £48 for carry-on bag that fit perfectly into size checker

Gabriel Silvera and  Dragos Carabineanu

Thug kills father with one punch after being asked for a cigarette outside Tube station

File photo dated 26/07/24 of Ben Stokes. Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, England’s Test and limited-overs captains respectively, have each signed new two-year central contracts. Issue date: Thursday October 31, 2024.

Man arrested after home of England cricket captain Ben Stokes raided by masked burglars

Claw hammer-wielding public schoolboy who attacked sleeping students and teacher handed life sentence

Hammer-wielding public schoolboy who attacked two sleeping students and a teacher named

Tube strikes have been called off

Tube strikes called off after significantly improved pay offer, union announces