Pension age 'could rise to 70', new government figures suggest

Bronwen Weatherby20 November 2019

It may be time to rethink old age, say experts who claim 70 could be seen as the "new 65".

People who reach the milestone birthday can expect to live another 15 years, the Office for National Statistics said.

Given we are now expected to live well into our 80s, the pension age could be pushed back by five years, the statistics suggest.

General improvements in health is the reason why people are living longer and those in charge believe social attitudes need to adjust accordingly.

The study, Living Longer: Is Age 70 The New Age 65? could convince the government to raise the state pension age further.

It used to be 65 for men and 60 for women, but is now 66 for both sexes and is due to rise again in 2008 to 67.

The ONS called the use of 65 as a marker for old age "out of date".

In the report, it said: "There is no longer an official retirement age, state pension age is rising, and increasing numbers of people work past the age of 65."

"Longer lives mean people can continue to contribute for longer – through longer working lives, volunteering, and possibly providing care for family members, for example, grandchildren.

"For individuals it might mean the opportunity to spend more time with family and friends and to pursue personal interests with more time for leisure activities.

"More older people means increased demand for health and adult social services, and increased public spending on state pensions. The key to shifting the balance from challenge towards opportunity... is for older people to be able to live healthy lives for as long as possible."

“Our findings indicate that health status by chronological age has improved over time while health status at prospective ages shows more stability,” the statisticians said.

“This means that measuring population ageing in terms of the proportion of people in the population of a set chronological age may not be the most appropriate measure to use when considering the health of our ageing population.

“Prospective measures, based on years of life remaining, may provide a more consistent indication and as such may be a more appropriate measure to use when planning for current and future health and social care needs and demand.”

Under this system, old age would begin at 70 for men and 72 for women based on life expectancy minus 15 years.

This is the equivalent to the remaining life expectancy in 2911 which was aged 57 for a man and aged 60 for a woman.

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