The government should ‘factor in reality of life’ when deciding on increases to the state pension age, Age UK has said.

In its report ‘Working later, waiting longer’, Age UK held eight in-depth interviews with people in their 50s and early 60s who were in routine jobs or whose ability to work has been affected by their caring responsibilities, health or unemployment and are expecting to rely on their state pension for all or most of their retirement income. As well as looking at experiences of many people who have contacted Age UK about their state pension and the state pension age.

The report revealed that 45 per cent of pensioner couples and 71 per cent of single pensioners receive at least half their income from state pensions and benefits.

Among newly retired people, 38 per cent of couples and 59 per cent of single people receive at least half of their income from state pensions and benefits.

The poorest fifth of single pensioners rely on the state pension and benefits for 86 per cent of their income, while for the richest fifth, this only makes up 29 per cent of income.

Age UK emphasised that while some people may be largely unaffected by a later state pension, others who are more disadvantaged in terms of health, income or have caring responsibilities could experience considerable hardship.

The study also revealed that among people aged 55 to 64 in Great Britain, over a third, 37 per cent of women and around a fifth, 19 per cent of men have no private pension savings.

Age UK charity director Caroline Abrahams, said: 'We should all be able to look forward to a decent retirement but the sad truth is that blanket rises in the state pension age, without any extra protection for disadvantaged groups, could take this out of some people’s reach. Men and women who have worked hard all their lives in tough manual jobs, or who have scaled down their hours or left work in midlife to care for an ageing parent are among those most likely to lose out, which seems incredibly unfair.

'We are calling on the government to make sure they factor in the reality of life for middle-aged people like these before making any decisions about further raising their SPA. John Cridland’s report will be crucial in helping the government reach the right conclusions and we sincerely hope that he will look closely at the position of those who simply cannot work for longer and take fully into account the growing expectations on people to help care for their parents as they age."

Share Story: