"Tories plan to raise the state pension age to 75 over the next 16 years"

[dutchman]

Government will raise age of state pension from 67 to 75 based on think tank findings from Iain Duncan Smith



The state pension age is set to rise to 75 over the next 16 years — based on a plan by new PM Boris Johnson ’s favourite think tank.

It would go up to 70 just nine years from now as the change is phased in.

A report out today by the Centre for Social Justice says Britain can no longer afford the current plan to raise the pension age to 67 in 2028 then 68 by 2046, so it must be speeded up.

The pensions bill has ballooned from £17billion in 1989 to £92billion now, making up £4 of every £10 of welfare spending, the report adds. By 2023 it will cost £20billion more as the population ages and the birthrate falls.

It proposes raising the eligible age to 70 by 2028 and 75 by 2035.

The first people likely to be affected by such a change are those born between March 6, 1961 and April 5, 1977.

The Centre for Social Justice is chaired by ex-Welfare Secretary and Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith and Tory governments get many of their ideas from it.

In 2009 it dreamed up Universal Credit , adopted as policy by PM David Cameron a year later.

Its boss Andy Cook insists: “Working longer potentially improves health and wellbeing– we don’t do enough to help older people stay in work. The state pension doesn’t reflect healthy working life expectancy.”

The report also claims that a million pension-age Britons want to work, but can’t find bosses who will employ them.

It suggests a system of “mid-life MOTs” for older staff, leading to flexible hours and special training for those who stay in work.”

[dutchman]

I suspect whichever party or coalition of parties gets in will introduce something very similar.

[rebbonk]

What age do the French retire at?

Why can't we afford it?

Why has the pensions bill soared?

It's time that the tax payers of this country opened their eyes and started holding politicians properly to account.

[rebbonk]

Stolen from another site I use...

The deep thinking ones are seriously thinking of raising the statuary retirement age to 75, fine, if it is enforced right across the board. But think on, at 70 you have to renew your driving licence, and if you fail your medical, that's it, no wheels, so how is a 70-+ construction worker to get to work, with his tools, that's if he is still able to work, what with the onset of arthritis, myopia, rheumatism going deaf, and "where are my bl**dy car keys" kicks in. same for shop owners, and countless other trades and professions. The in the HoC haven't a clue as to how the real world works, outside their elite cosseted little world. A 70+ HGV driver, thundering along, has a stroke, a twinge, a bloody heart attack, see the problem

[dutchman]

What age do the French retire at?

Offically 67 but it's (currently) possible to retire on a reduced state pension at 62. It's also 67 in Holland. Most countries are doing the same as Britain.

Why has the pensions bill soared?

Successive governments have failed to raise national insurance rates in order to massage the unemployment statistics. The insurance industry warned about this many decades ago.

[rebbonk]

This makes rather interesting reading...

http://www.singernet.info/southwarktv/spag/spagNIFund.asp

[dutchman]

Amber Rudd says Government will not consider proposal to raise retirement threshold to 75



Amber Rudd has said the Government is not considering proposals to increase the state pension age to 75.

Following the outcry, Ms Rudd, Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “I’ve been clear that this Government is not and will not consider or implement proposals to raise the state pension age.”

Speaking at a women’s centre in Plymouth, Ms Rudd reiterated the CSJ’s idea was not Government policy.

“The Government policy is set at young people entering the workforce to retire at 68, and there’s no prospect of raising that age to 75. I would rule it out, yes,” she said, according to the Plymouth Herald.

“We all live longer and so it’s right, given that taxpayers have to pay for pensions, that we ask people to work a little longer in order to enjoy the rest of their long life, we hope, with a secure income,” said Ms Rudd.

She would say that wouldn't she?

[rebbonk]

this Government is not and will not consider or implement proposals to raise the state pension age

But this government is only going to be short lived!

[dutchman]

"No plans" eh?

Pension age 'should rise to 70' as Britons are now living well into their 80s because of better healthcare, diet and lifestyles, figures reveal

Forget early retirement – we should all be working until we are 70, it was claimed yesterday.

That is because we are now expected to live well into our 80s, the Office for National Statistics said.

It suggested that ‘three score years and ten’ – the Biblical lifespan – has instead become the point at which people should give up work. In the 1980s those who reached 65, then the retirement age for men, could expect to live around another 15 years.

But by 2017 men aged 70 and women aged 72 could expect a further 15 years of life.

They are also healthier now than 65-year-olds were four decades ago, the ONS found.

Its study, Living Longer: Is Age 70 The New Age 65?, could persuade governments to raise the state pension age further. It used to be 65 for men and 60 for women but is now 66 for both sexes and is due to rise to 67 in 2028.

The ONS report said: ‘In the UK, 65 years of age has traditionally been taken as the marker for the start of older age, most likely because it was the official retirement age for men and the age at which they could draw their state pension. In terms of working patterns, age 65 years as the start of older age is out of date. There is no longer an official retirement age, state pension age is rising, and increasing numbers of people work past the age of 65.’

Our longer and healthier lives bring challenges and opportunities, it adds.

‘Longer lives mean people can continue to contribute for longer – through longer working lives, volunteering, and possibly providing care for family members, for example, grandchildren. For individuals it might mean the opportunity to spend more time with family and friends and to pursue personal interests with more time for leisure activities.

‘[But] more older people means increased demand for health and adult social services, and increased public spending on state pensions. The key to shifting the balance from challenge towards opportunity... is for older people to be able to live healthy lives for as long as possible.’ Just before the First World War, men could expect to live another 15 years when they hit 57, women at 60.

In 50 years’ time, the ONS estimated, men will be likely to live to 90 and women 92, putting the 15-year retirement line at 75 and 77.

However, the report cautioned that there is no guarantee life expectancy and health levels will continue to improve.

[rebbonk]

...there is no guarantee life expectancy and health levels will continue to improve.

There is evidence that things might have plateaued or are even retreating.

The biggest 'improvement' in the life expectancy figures over the last 50 years has been the reduction in infant mortality rates. On that basis, much of this thinking is flawed. I personally know very few people over the age of 75.