The comments have received widespread media coverage and will likely lead to renewed pressure on Government to rethink planned state pension age hikes.
Tom Selby, senior analyst at AJ Bell, comments:
“You cannot argue with Sir Michael’s conclusion that the pace of increases in average life expectancy has slowed since 2010. A number of culprits have been blamed by experts, most notably post-financial crash austerity cuts to local authority budgets and the rise in deaths linked to dementia and Alzheimer’s. While it’s impossible to apportion blame to any one of these factors, it’s a fair bet that a combination have contributed to the shift in longevity expectations.
“While such trends must be monitored and taken into account, society has been ageing for decades and the state pension simply hasn’t kept pace. The Government will inevitably face calls from Labour and others not to implement the independent recommendations of John Cridland’s review, which included accelerating the planned rise in the state pension age to 68 and scrapping the triple-lock. Indeed, Theresa May’s weakened Government might even struggle to garner a House of Commons majority for such an unpopular move.
“However, the state pension has become increasingly unsustainable over decades rather than years, with spending forecast to rise by £19.5bn* in 20 years’ time unless changes are implemented. To back off from reform now would simply push the problem on to future generations.”
Source: Office for National Statistics
*Source: Cridland Review final report (page 51) https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/611460/independent-review-of-the-state-pension-age-smoothing-the-transition.pdf