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Question: The state pension is the foundation of most people’s income in later life. So, it’s important to know how much you can expect to get, how it will increase and when you can start to claim it.The state pension age was increased to 66 from October 2020, but it is now being gradually increased from 66 to 67 between April 2026 and March 2028.
However, that’s not the end of the changes. Between 2044 and 2046, the state pension age is due to increase gradually to 68. That means anyone who was born between April 1977 and March 1978 will have a state pension age of somewhere between 67 and 68, and anyone born on or after 6 April 1978 has a state pension age of 68.
However, this doesn’t mean this timetable is set in stone; the Government can change it.
In fact, the Government has a legal responsibility to review the state pension age regularly and make sure it is still appropriate given changes in population and life expectancy. So far there have been two of these formal reviews. The first one, published in 2017, recommended the Government at the time should bring forward the increase in state pension age to 68 to between 2037 and 2039.
The Government accepted this recommendation but later stuck a pin in the implementation because it felt that after Covid the data on life expectancy in the UK was uncertain.
The third independent review of state pension age is ongoing now and the Government’s response to that – including their decision – is expected to be published next year.
It’s possible that the recommendation from this third review could be to increase the state pension age to 68 at this earlier time of between 2037 and 2039. But that is “crystal ball gazing,” as we simply don’t know today what it will recommend, and the Government is very firm that no such decision has been made yet.
If the increase to age 68 was brought forward to between 2037 and 2039 it would change the timetable so that anyone who was born:
Between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961 has a state pension age between 66 and 67 Between 6 March 1961 and 5 March 1970 has a state pension age of 67 Between 6 April 1970 and 5 March 1971 has a state pension age of somewhere between 67 and 68 On 6 April 1971 onwards has a state pension age of 68As you were born in October 1970, this would affect you. If the Government adopted a similar way of phasing in the increase to state pension age as they have done before, your state pension age would be 67 years and either five or six months, depending on when in October you were born.
But I am going to emphasise that at the moment the rise to 68 is still due to happen in the 2040s, and your state pension age is still 67. The Government has to give people ten years’ notice of any change in their state pension age, so next year would be the last point they could make that change as early as 2037 and still meet that requirement.
If the increase is brought forward, people born between April 1970 and March 1978 would need to think about how they could cover the gap in income this higher state pension age causes.
By 2037, if the state pension rises each year by the minimum promised under the triple lock, it could be worth around £16,500 a year. That is a significant amount of income to go without, even if the delay is only for a few months.
Some people may want to work for longer until their state pension kicks in. Others might want to prioritise private pension saving now to make up that gap.
But the key is being prepared, knowing what your state pension age is, and keeping up to date with any changes.
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