With riots in France about pension reform, Brits have been eagerly awaiting news about changes to the age at which state pension is paid in the UK. A review has revealed when millions will be able to claim their payments and who will have to wait additional years.
At present, the age at which you can claim your State Pension is 66, but this is due to change. The State Pension Age (SPA) will rise to 67 by the end of 2028, the Government has confirmed, while a move to increase it to 68 is planned for between 2044 and 2046 – affecting people born after April 1977.
While an increase of the SPA to 68 has been delayed, a further review will consider it over the next two years. However, reports indicate that, despite a delay, the move to 68 years old is still likely to be brought forward. Leicestershire Live wrote that the Conservative Government wanted to raise the SPA to 68 between 2034 to 2036, but shelved plans because they were worried any change in the age would be enormously unpopular among their key voters.
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In 2022, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride suggested that the debate over pension age could get "pretty hairy" and it appears as though the Government thought it wasn't a debate with having. Instead, a decision is set to be made after the next General Election, which will be held no later than January 28, 2025.
In the past, a rise in pension age has proven devastating to less well off workers, forcing many to continue to work well into their sixties as they do not have sufficient savings. When the SPA increased from 65 to 66, one in seven 65-year-olds were pushed into income poverty as a result, the Institute for Fiscal Studies found.
At present, as a result of the triple-lock mechanism returning, State Pensioners will see their payments uprated by 10.1 percent. The full new State Pension is going up from £185.15 per week to £203.85 in April 2023.
People are eligible if they are a woman born on or after April 6, 1953, or a man born on or after April 6, 1951. To get the full new State Pension you must have a minimum of 35 years in National Insurance contributions.
Meanwhile, those on the basic State Pension see have their payments go from £141.85 to £156.20 per week for eligible people in April. The basic State Pension is paid to those who retired before April 6, 2016 and to receive the full amount, you typically need 30 years of National Insurance contributions.
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