Work til you drop

Millions more working-age people may have to wait until their 70s to retire after the government launched an official review of the state pension age, experts warned.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has already forecast that on current trajectories of life expectancy, the state pensionable age could reach 70 by the mid-2060s, but Labour and financial experts have warned that it could come sooner than expected. The state pension age has already been going up on a gradual basis from its longstanding level of 60 for women until it reaches the male level of 65. From 2018, it will rise on a phased basis for men and women until equalising at 67.

Tom McPhail, the head of retirement policy at the financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “We fully expect state pension ages to go up faster than currently planned, and those joining the workforce today are likely to find themselves waiting until their mid-70s to get a payout from the state system.”