Fairness in pensions is very important, particularly when it comes to the State Pension. It is sadly, increasingly missing from Government pension policy.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride MP missed an opportunity to properly address State Pension fairness – the fairness between rich and poor pensioners – this week when when he announced the rise in the State Pension Age to 68 would be reviewed.
Mr Stride announced in the Commons that the Government plan to raise the State Pension Age to 68 by 2046 would be put on hold pending a review but he also confirmed plans to move the State Pension Age up from 66 to 67 (between 2026 and 2028) would go ahead. This 67 age as a minimum to claim the State Pensions will put us near the top of the European pension age table.
More likely it was a response to recent comments and data that show UK life expectancy growth has stalled in recent years and has even declined since the pandemic.
In this context the move to keep raising the State Pension Age inexorably without a proper review was both unwise and unfair but Mr Stride needs to go much further to restore fairness, he needs to look at regional and city differences in life expectancy.
The fact is that based on my, admittedly superficial, research the rise in life expectancy in the UK has pretty much come to a halt over the past decade.
It’s true to say that many forecasters still expect life expectancy to rise over the long term but a forecast is never as good as recent data and the 2021 census and ONS data gives us a good insight into the dreadful disparities between life expectancy around the UK.
For the sake of brevity I will look mainly at male life expectancy but women will likely live, on average, just a few years longer in these areas.
The inescapable fact is that having a set retirement age for every adult in the UK ignores the reality of regional differences in life expectancy which sooner or later the government will have to address. Male life expectancy already varies regionally by more than a decade in the UK and the gap between rich and poor areas is glaring.
According to the 2021 Census, a man living in Glasgow City will only live on average to just past their 73rd birthday. In Blackpool average life expectancy will see a typical male live to just past their 74th birthday. On average, a typical man living in these areas will only be able to claim a State Pension for as little as five or six years when the minimum age rises to 67. Not a great retirement deal in my view and certainly not “fair.”
In contrast someone living in well off Westminster (home of many of our MPs, of course) or affluent Kensington & Chelsea will live on average to over 84, 10 years longer than their counterparts in Blackpool or parts of Glasgow. They will, whether they need it or not, be able to claim a State Pension for 17 years on average.
I’ll finish with the wise words of Mr Stride: “It’s essential the State Pension remains sustainable and fair across the generations.”
I could not agree more but it was a shame he didn’t add “across the regions and cities” too.
It’s time to address this elephant in the room Mr Stride.
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Kevin O’Donnell is editor of Financial Planning Today and has worked as a journalist and editor for over three decades.
