TUC: Pension age hike risks creating second-class citizens

20 Jul 2017 01:22 PM

Responding to the announcement yesterday (Wednesday) by the government of a speeded-up timetable for raising the state pension age to 68, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“Hiking the state pension age risks creating second-class citizens.

“In large parts of the country, the state pension age will be higher than healthy life expectancy. And low paid workers at risk of insecurity in their working lives will now face greater insecurity in old age too.

“A decent retirement is a right for us all, not a privilege for the few. Rather than hiking the pension age, the government must do more for older workers who want to keep working and paying taxes. Workplaces and working patterns need to adapt to their needs.

“And the government must follow the independent review’s recommendation to give more help to those unable to stay in work until retirement age.”

Notes to Editors:

• Official data on healthy life expectancies is published by the Office for National Statistics, and can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/ydes8jyc
• All TUC press releases can be found at tuc.org.uk/media
• TUC Press Office on Twitter: @tucnews
• Congress 2017 will be held in the Brighton Centre from Sunday 10 September to Wednesday 13 September. Free media passes can be obtained by visiting www.tuc.org.uk/Mediacredentials2017 and completing an online form.

Applications must be in by noon on Tuesday 29 August. Any received later than that will be processed in Brighton and will cost £75.