It’s not government policy to raise the pension age to 75

19 August 2019
What was claimed

The government will raise the state pension age from 67 to 75 by 2035.

Our verdict

This was recommended in a report by the Centre for Social Justice think tank. The Department for Work and Pensions told us it is not government policy to do this.

“Tories' plan to raise the state pension age to 75 over the next 16 years

EXCLUSIVE: Government will raise age of state pension from 67 to 75 based on think tank findings from Iain Duncan Smith”

Daily Mirror, 17 August 2019

An (now corrected) article in the Mirror over the weekend claimed that the government planned to raise the state pension age to 75 over the next 16 years, based on the findings of a report by the Centre for Social Justice think tank.

The Centre for Social Justice, which first proposed Universal Credit and is chaired by former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith, did recommend that the State Pension Age be increased to 75 by 2035 in a new report.

But it’s incorrect to suggest this proposal is government policy. We spoke to the Department for Work and Pensions, which told us that it’s not government policy to do this. The Mirror has corrected their headline today to reflect this fact.

State pension age in the UK is currently a little over 65 for both men and women. By October 2020 it will have risen to 66, from 66 to 67 between the years 2026 and 2028, and then from 67 to 68 between 2044 and 2046.

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