Another "hint" from Pensions Minister that State Pension Age eligibility will change

thriftytracey

The state pension age is currently 66 and two further increases are already set out in legislation, including a gradual rise to 67 for those born on or after April 1960; and a gradual rise to 68 between 2044 and 2046 for those born on or after April 1977.

The briefings to the press suggest that the timescales will be changed in May 2023 when the review is published so that people will have to wait longer for their state pension.

Yet longevity is now falling?  Not helped by the state of the NHS.  Apparently excess mortality in October was 900 deaths due to ambulance wait times.

My own state pension eligibility falls in February 2026 so I narrowly missed having to wait until age 67.  Could this change?

Bravepants

My SP age is already 67. The fall in longevity due to ambulance shortages is a short term event, not a long term trend. Longevity is increasing because of the trends brought about by better medical research and long term science, and better standards of living. The trend for increasing pension age is over a period of decades, not years.

trevjl

Yet longevity is now falling?  Not helped by the state of the NHS.  Apparently excess mortality in October was 900 deaths due to ambulance wait times.

Stop watching the BBC is my advice

greatkingrat

thriftytracey said:

My own state pension eligibility falls in February 2026 so I narrowly missed having to wait until age 67.  Could this change?

I think it is safe to say they will give more than 3 years notice of any future changes, so you don't have anything to worry about.

dunstonh

The last review recommended bringing age 68 forward.   However, it said the final decision should be left until the next review as the life expectancy data was being updated more accurately in the coming years.

Yet longevity is now falling?

Only fell in 2020.  It rose again in 2021.     The data shows that upto around 2011, life expectancy was rising fast.  However, since 2011, it has slowed up but still rising.

My own state pension eligibility falls in February 2026 so I narrowly missed having to wait until age 67.  Could this change?

There is a political commitment to give at least 10 years notice.  Political commitments don't have weight (change of leadership, change of party etc).  However, they won't want a repeat of the short-notice increase in 2011.  The shortest notice ended up being 18 months (which is where WASPI let women down by being greedy and not focusing on those that  were actually disadvantaged)

Universidad

Bravepants said:

My SP age is already 67. The fall in longevity due to ambulance shortages is a short term event, not a long term trend. Longevity is increasing because of the trends brought about by better medical research and long term science, and better standards of living. The trend for increasing pension age is over a period of decades, not years.

Standards of living have been in decline my entire working life, and almost everyone in my peer group is burned out, suffering from stress, and in poor mental health.

I don't think I can keep going to my current retirement age, I'm damn sure I'm dialing out if they raise it again.

p00hsticks

Universidad said:

Standards of living have been in decline my entire working life,

I very much doubt that that is true (unless perhaps the start of your working life co-incided with the start of the pandemic, in whcih case I'd suggest that is too small a period of time to base any statistically significant measurements on).

There are a number of statistics on various living standards in Britiain here

https://www.sussex.ac.uk/britishlivingstandards/othersurveys/1870-2010

Perhaps you would be prepared to indicate exactly which ones you beleive support your assertion, or alternative suggest another authoratitive source ? 

SouthCoastBoy

When gauging standard of living I don't think it is as easy as comparing numbers. Mental health, proximity to family, support networks should all be considered. My parents definitely had a better quality of life to me, including job security, lower house prices, availability of good quality social housing, close support network, final salary pensions etc. Imo quality of life has decreased considerably, we too often compare standard of living with material values which to me is only one element.

Bravepants

SouthCoastBoy said:

When gauging standard of living I don't think it is as easy as comparing numbers. Mental health, proximity to family, support networks should all be considered. My parents definitely had a better quality of life to me, including job security, lower house prices, availability of good quality social housing, close support network, final salary pensions etc. Imo quality of life has decreased considerably, we too often compare standard of living with material values which to me is only one element.

I wasn't pointing to any individual person or group as examples, I was talking about the reason for the general population's longevity, which was the original subject of this thread. I doubt the UK Gov. would change anything regarding SP age by analysing the circumstances of your, or Universidad's, specific upbringing and chosen lifestyle.  

LHW99

Apparently excess mortality in October was 900 deaths due to ambulance wait times.

As I heard it 900 was the total excess mortality, of which ambulance waiting times resulted in about a quarter. Still not good and should be avoided if possible, but it did appear A&E staff were doing all they could to ensure it was not worse by using the ambulances as treatment bays.

Shouldn't be like that, but we can't blame "the NHS" as such, just the decisions that have been made over many many years from way back, when the idea of having a % of empty beds and more staff per patient went out of the window so that now winter flu, epidemics etc mean overstretched staff and overfilled wards.

Terron

SouthCoastBoy said:

When gauging standard of living I don't think it is as easy as comparing numbers. Mental health, proximity to family, support networks should all be considered. My parents definitely had a better quality of life to me, including job security, lower house prices, availability of good quality social housing, close support network, final salary pensions etc. Imo quality of life has decreased considerably, we too often compare standard of living with material values which to me is only one element.

I doubt that. I know standards of living have improved vastly during my lifetime.
My gran still had an outdoor toilet when she died in 1976. No such houses have been available around here for two decades.
When I started work I could not join the company pension scheme. It was only for managers.
The standards for social housing where increased vastly by Tony Blair. Also the switch from council to housing association ownership around here led to much better management.
My parents had NHS pensions. much better than the ones I have, but ones pretty much as good are still available. My sisters both have public sector DB pensions.
When I went to uni 10% of people would do so, now it is nearer 50%.
in my second year at uniI was in a house with no central heating.