The Standard Life Centre for the Future of Retirement response: State Pension Age Review call for evidence

id

Our first report, the Longer Lives Index, provides a comprehensive look at who is and isn’t ready for longer lives across the UK, and demonstrates clearly the scale of the challenge – 18 million adults in the UK are not adequately preparing financially for later life, and 10 million of us are not confident in their ability to secure work, worried that ill health and a lack of skills will stop them from earning what they need to save for retirement.

Our recent polling shows that 84% of people believe that providing the State Pension is an essential role for government. Despite this, one in three (34%) think that there probably won’t be a State Pension by the time they retire. This rises to more than half (53%) of people aged 25 to 49, the age group who are most likely to be impacted by future changes to the State Pension being considered by this Independent Review. (YouGov / the Standard Life Centre for the Future of Retirement April 2022).

The future can feel uncertain for many people as they try to think about what their longer lives might bring. This highlights the importance of this Independent Review in terms of fairness, sustainability and affordability for current and future generations.

Catherine Foot, Director of the Standard Life Centre for the Future of Retirement, comments:

“The state pension is a hugely important and popular part of our benefits system, with nearly half of the population relying on it for the majority of their income later in life. But our research shows that adults in Britain are fearful that it won’t exist in the future. After a period of historic declines, pensioner poverty is on the rise again and the current cost of living and high housing costs are putting huge pressure on people’s ability to put anything aside for the future. This review has a critical role to play in advising Government on how to ensure that future generations of retirees are protected from poverty.

“We have shared our latest insight to shine a light on some of the intergenerational challenges that we have found to exist, particularly around housing and people’s confidence in their ability to stay in work and to save for the future. Our research also shows the majority of adults in Britain aim to retire before the current state pension age, with 65 being the most popular age, but it is clear there is a big mismatch in people’s confidence in their plans and the reality. We believe that particular attention needs to be paid to the impact any changes may have on Gen X who are approaching retirement, those renting, and that people’s perceptions about the state pension and their lack of confidence when it comes to their own financial future needs to be front of mind.”

Read our Full Response