Raising state pension ages in the UK: a leap into the unknown

2016 GSA Annual Scientific Meeting Abstract: The UK has initiated a policy of progressively raising state pension ages from what they have been since 1940 (60 for women and 65 for men), such that they may reach 67 by 2028 and 70 by the mid-2030s. Ostensibly, the justifying principle is a naturalistic one - that the state pension will only be affordable if it is related to future rises in life expectancy, such that citizens should expect to spend on average only one-third of an adult life in state-subsidised retirement. On the one hand, therefore, this policy change appears to be driven purely by demographic and fiscal inevitabilities. On the other, raising state pension ages has long been a neoliberal cause, and there is no certainty that the necessary jobs will be forthcoming. This paper will explore the major changes that are taking place in UK income-maintenance policies to retired people, together with the associated issues