Pension Age to Increase in the Next Years

UK Government to increase pension age

The Department of Work and Pension has good news for pensioners. The government will change an increase in pension age in the coming years. Thousands of people would definitely benefit from such change, which is said to cost the government about £1 billion.

More than 240,000 men and 245,000 women can take advantage of the increased pension age. There would be 33,000 women who will directly benefit from the 2 year increase in state pension age. The Parliament will make the changes as need to the current Pension Bill. In the proposed bill, the women’s state pension age will reach 65 and 66 for men. The changes will take effect by November 2018 for women and April 2020 for men.

Work and Pension Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said that the department has heard concerns of a lot of women who are affected by the said rise of state pension age so they will have to cap the increase of until 18 months at a maximum. The government wants to make the transition as smooth as it can, Smith added. The department does understand that the said change can affect a lot of people on a different level, depending on their ages.

“We would have liked the changes being made to have gone further. Having faced uncertainty twice already, these women must not be affected by any further changes to their state pension age again without sufficient notice.” Mitchelle Mitchell, Age UK director, added.