UK think tank proposes to raise state pension starting age to 72

According to a UK think tank, the age at which people in the UK can claim the state pension would need to rise to 72 within 20 years if it is to keep pace with life expectancy increases.

In 1981, the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) said people typically received pension from the state for 25 per cent of their life.

However, by 2000 higher longevity implied that the proportion of people's lives during which they received the benefit had jumped to 30 per cent while it had increased further to 33 per cent by this year.

According to the group if the government wanted to maintain the amount of time people could claim the state pension constant at the 1981 level, it would need to increase the age at which they first received it to 72 by 2030.

They add that even if people were to receive it for around 30 per cent of their life, the state pension age would still need to increase to 68 within 20 years.

However, the group which was responding to a Department for Work and Pensions consultation on the issue said people would need time to adjust to any increases to allow them to work for longer and save more. The group said men would need to be warned at least five years in advance and ideally be given 10 years' notice while women would need more than 10 years.