Wednesday 10 December
2025, 09.15am, Committee Room 6
How will the State Pension age affect older people unable to work
and what support should they receive?
The Work and Pensions Committee will hear from experts on the
impacts of previous State Pension age increases, and the
anticipated consequences of the next rise from 66 to 67, due to
be phased in between 2026 and 2028. This will include how State
Pension age increases disproportionately impact disadvantaged
groups.
MPs will explore the challenges the Pensions Commission is likely
to face in delivering a fair and sustainable pensions framework
and the triple lock which increases the generosity of the State
Pension over time.
They will also look at the case for taking steps to smooth the
impact of the next State Pension age rise and what measures could
realistically be put in place at this stage.
Witnesses:
From 09.15
- Chris Curry, Director, Pensions Policy Institute;
- Jonathan Cribb, Deputy Director, Institute of Fiscal Studies.
From 10.10 (approx.)
- Patrick Thomson, Head of Research Analysis and Policy,
Standard Life Centre for the Future of Recruitment;
- Andrea Barry, Deputy Director for Work, Recruitment and
Transition, Centre for Ageing Better;
- Ben Franklin, Deputy Chief Executive, International Longevity
Centre UK.
ENDS
Notes to editors
- The Work and Pensions Committee's report Pensioner Poverty:
challenges and mitigations, published in July, recommended
that a review of pensions adequacy should consult on objectives
for the State Pension, account of fairness and sustainability,
as well as adequacy. Given its importance for low-income
pensioners, it recommended that a guiding principle should be
for it to provide the “amount needed for a minimum, dignified,
socially acceptable standard of living” (para 160-161). In
response, the
Government said it had asked the revived Pensions Commission to
consider what is required to “build a future proof pensions
system that is strong, fair and sustainable.”
- The Committee also concluded that the last time the State
Pension age increased – from 65 to 66 - there had been an
increase in the number of pre-pensioners in poverty. It
recommended that the Government produce an impact assessment of
the forthcoming increase to 67 and its impact on poverty and
explain what measures it had considered to mitigate this impact
(para 191 and 192). In response, the
Government said it would evaluate the increase when the rise
was complete in 2028 and data available.
