pension injustice for the poor

Around 19pc of men from the lowest social classes, such as manual labourers, cleaners and packers, die before they reach 65, compared with just 7pc of men from the highest social group, according to Malcolm Wicks, the former Labour pensions minister.

Women from poorer backgrounds are also twice as likely to die before they qualify for the state pension, with 10pc of the poorest women dying before they reach 60, compared with just 4pc of those who are better off.

Even among those who do live long enough to draw their state pension, poorer workers tend to have lower life expectancy. A 65-year-old man in the lowest social class is expected to live for an average of four years less than one in the highest social class, with a life expectancy at retirement of 14.1 years compared with 18.3 years for someone better off. The life expectancy gap for women of different social classes is also just over four years.

Wicks warned that increasing the state pension age to 66 by 2020, and then to 68 in future, would hit those from the lowest social classes the hardest. He said a failure to take on board the life expectancies of people in different social classes would result in injustice. He said:
"A pension penalty is often paid by those from the lowest social classes, people whose work involves labouring jobs, driving vans, packing and cleaning etc. Some die before pension age, while others enjoy fewer pension years. These are people in the main who left school at 15 or 16 and have been in the labour market ever since. By their 60s many of them are worn out and simply need the rest that retirement can offer."