Rise in pensioner numbers will pressurise pension

A recent report from the Office of National Statistics forecasts that the number of over 85s in the UK will more than double in the next quarter century.

Although that’s good news for the health of the nation’s elderly, it will put even more pressure on an already-creaking pension system.

The rise in life expectancy will places an even heavier burden on people still in work, whose earnings contribute to pensioners’ entitlements.

The Government has already suggested that it will raise the state pension age to 68 by 2046, but the Conservatives have suggested they would review this if elected, possibly bringing that date forward to 2020. Even this is said to be inadequate by some. The Institute of Directors want the state pension age to be raised to 70 as soon as ‘reasonably practical’.

On the other hand, unions are unhappy with plans to raise the state pension age, saying that people in physically demanding jobs could suffer from having to work for more years.

Even with the currently planned increase in the state pension age to 66 by 2033, the number of pensioners will rise sharply, to 15.6 million by around 2035, from 11.8 million at the moment.

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