In response to today’s announcement to delay the State Pension Age, David Sinclair, Chief Executive of the ILC, the UK’s specialist think tank on the impact of longevity on society, argues:

“A delay to the increase in State Pension Age may be politically expedient but in the long term it is inevitable that we will be getting our pension later than previous generations. So, a failure to make the tough decision now will give any future government difficult financial choices about increasing taxation or reducing spending.”

“The state pension costs the Government over £100bn a year and has increased 3-fold since 2000. By 2040 there will be more than 17m people aged 65+, 4m more than today and so these costs will rise even further. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has suggested that delaying the increase by seven years is likely to cost over £60 billion. This could pay for a lot of levelling up, a lot of preventative health and a lot of care.”

“There are undoubtedly too many people being forced to leave the workforce too early due to ill health, caring responsibilities, or other unavoidable factors. We are in an unenviable fiscal position, with nearly two in five adults economically inactive. We can’t sustain our benefits and state pension systems unless we address health inequalities which are wasting our economic potential.  The Government set an ambitious goal to achieve five additional healthy years for all of us.  But little has been done to try and meet this target.  If anything, the situation has got worse, not better.”

“Our arguments aren’t new or exciting or glamourous, but we do need to do much more to keep us healthier. If we manage this there is an economic as well as a social return.”

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