State pension age: government warned of 'uproar' over unfair change

The Government could be prevented from allowing the state pension age to increase into the 80s range by a "huge uproar", Which? Head of Money Gareth Shaw has told Express.co.uk.

The state pension age for men and women is currently 65 but will increase to 66 by October 2020. The Government is due to review the system in 2023, but Mr Shaw said it was unlikely any of

us would be alive to see an increase to the 80s. He told Express.co.uk: "Back in its very earliest section, in the turn of the 20th century, you didn't get your state pension until

you were 75. "That was the limit of people's life expectancy so very few people actually got the state pension. "It's much fairer now, and you get it at a point where

you've got potentially a 20 or 30-year retirement ahead of you. "There'd also be an absolutely huge uproar if the Government decided to go from collecting your state pension

in your 60s to collecting it in your 80s." READ MORE: STATE PENSION AGE HEARTBREAK AS 50S WOMEN 'EXCLUDED AND ABANDONED' Mr Shaw continued: "That would mean a massive

imbalance between generations, and there is a lot of work going on over inter-generational fairness. "So you would have to look at a group of people who collected their state pension

between age 60 and 66 and then a whole generation of younger people who have struggled to get on to the property ladder, who don't have generous private pensions, then being given a

state pension age which is 20 years later. "I think that would have a huge outcry. "The Cridland review is a really fascinating dive and exploration of a whole wealth of

opportunities of increasing state pension age and what you could do." Mr Shaw said: "Because of the type of work you do, should you then be able to access your state pension

earlier? "They were considered but that was not the final recommendations to the Government. "There is also a kind of societal debate to be had about when, for a good life, you

should be able to stop working? "When is it beneficial to society and to humans for people to stop working? "I think that is a factor that needs to be considered as well. So yes of

course, you could ramp the state pension age up to a huge level."