The cost of meeting future public sector pensions has risen to more than £1 trillion - almost double the official estimate - it has been claimed.
A report by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) - a right-wing, free market think tank - calculated that public sector pension liabilities have now reached £1,025 billion.
That compares with an official Government estimate of £530 billion and is the equivalent of 83% of gross domestic product or more than double the national debt.
The report, by former Bank of England economist Neil Record, argued that the Government's figures "woefully underestimate" the impact of public sector pay increases and rising life expectancy.
It warned that the burden of meeting the liabilities will fall most heavily on future taxpayers currently too young to vote.
It estimated that the cost of meeting existing public sector pension commitments will peak in 2045 at £90 billion a year.
IEA editorial director Philip Booth said: "This is not a legacy one generation of politicians should leave their children. It is a scandal that the Government has only made minor proposals regarding public sector schemes.
"At the same time, increased regulations and the imposition of accounting standards on the private sector are driving out private sector final salary pensions."
The report is likely to lead to fresh calls for the Government to re-think its controversial decision not to raise the retirement age for existing public sector workers from 60 to 65.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Philip Hammond said: "We have called on the Government to re-visit its climb down on changes to the public sector pensionable age. It is neither fair nor sustainable to have one rule for public sector workers and another for everyone else."
