Overview

• Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has commissioned Dr Suzy Morrissey to lead a statutory review that will assess linking the UK State Pension age to life expectancy using Automatic Adjustment Mechanisms.
• Experts caution that scenarios under consideration could push entitlement toward about 70 for younger cohorts, with some analysis pointing to those born after April 1970, though no decisions have been made.
• The Rail, Maritime and Transport union has warned it will mount protests and coordinated direct action if the government pursues a sharp rise in the retirement age.
• The existing timetable remains in place, with the State Pension age moving from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028 and a further planned increase to 68 for people retiring from 2044 to 2046.
• Campaigners say tying eligibility to average life expectancy risks widening inequality and forcing some people toward poverty, and specialists note later eligibility would delay access to full workplace pensions and may push the private pension minimum age above 57.