The proposal by the Centre for Social Justice would save £182bn a year.
But the proposal has received fierce opposition.
What does the Centre for Social Justice recommend?
The Ageing Confidently report recommends increasing the state pension age to 70 by 2028 and to 75 by 2035 “to ease the strain on the welfare system”.
It recommends removing barriers from older people working longer. The CSJ propose improving healthcare support for older people, increasing access to flexible working, improving training opportunities, developing mid-life career “MOTs”, and developing an “age confident” scheme.
The CSJ say that only if these proposals are in place should the pension age be raised.
The proposal to increase state pension age to 75 is not Government policy, but is something that may be considered for inclusion any future manifesto.
“By increasing the state pension age, we can help people stay in gainful and life-enhancing employment while also making a sound long-term financial decision.”
Opposition
The proposal has received strong opposition.
Ex-pensions minister Ros Altmann said the proposed changes “must not be allowed to happen”. She tweeted: “Reports of state pension age rising to 75 are shocking. Major changes in pension attitudes required due to big life expectancy differentials. Using age as a strict cut off is not good policy.”
Politicisation of pension age
If the state pension age had kept pace with increases in life expectancy since 1981, it would be nearly 74 today.
Any changes to the pension age are fraught with political difficulty. The equalisation of men and women’s pension age to 65 continues to be a hot topic.
The pace of demographic change means that future decisions about pension age cannot be ignored and left to a later date.
But if the political consequences deter politicians from acting, the degree of reform necessary over time will grow, worsening the shock of change.
To avoid this, could one option be to delegate pension age setting to a non-partisan body in a similar way to National Minimum Wage? Such a body could be charged with making regular recommendations which are, by convention, accepted by whichever Government of the day is in power.