Go back to insightsState pension age reaches 67
Were you born after 5 April 1960?
There is often a significant gap between legislation being passed and its eventual implementation. Sometimes this reflects the need to add detailed regulations to a broad statutory framework. In other cases, the delay is entirely intentional. The changes to State pension age (SPA) set out in the Pensions Act 2014 fall firmly into the latter category.
The Act legislated for a phased one‑year increase in SPA to 67 for both men and women born after 5 April 1960, with the change taking effect between April 2026 and April 2028. When the legislation was passed in May 2014, the SPA stood at 65 for men and around 62 for women, with women’s SPA already scheduled to rise to match men’s at 65 by March 2016. From that point, SPA increased gradually for both sexes, reaching 66 by November 2018.
Unsurprisingly, these increases were controversial at the time and remain so. In an attempt to limit further criticism, the government committed to providing at least ten years’ notice of any future rise in SPA. This promise explains the 12‑year lead‑in period built into the 2014 changes.
While there is a strong argument in favour of giving people a decade’s notice before increasing SPA, such long delays carry a risk: the assumptions underpinning the original decision may no longer hold true by the time the change is implemented. Unfortunately, this appears to be the case with the move to SPA 67:
- In 2014, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) 2012‑based projections estimated that a man aged 66 in 2018 would live for a further 21.1 years, with a woman of the same age expected to live another 23.7 years. Looking ahead, life expectancy at age 67 in 2028 was projected at 21.3 years for men and 23.8 years for women, figures that supported the case for raising SPA by one year.
- By contrast, the ONS’s latest 2022‑based projections show markedly lower expectations. For those aged 67 in 2028, projected remaining life expectancy has fallen to 18.6 years for men and 21.1 years for women.
That represents a reduction of 2.7 years in projected life expectancy for both men and women compared with the earlier estimates. In short, longevity has not improved as rapidly as the ONS anticipated when the SPA increase was first announced.
All of which underlines an important point: relying solely on the State’s timetable for retirement may not be the best strategy. Planning your own retirement date, based on your circumstances, priorities and resources, has never been more important.
24th April 2026