Prospect State Pension Age petition reaches 12,000 signatures

Prospect State Pension Age petition reaches 12,000 signatures

The government will have to justify proposed changes to the State Pension Age (SPA) after a Prospect petition secured over 12,000 signatures.



The petition called: “Reverse government decision that will increase State Pension Age for millions” was launched after the secretary of state for work and pensions announced a review into retirement age.

Legislation means that the secretary of state is expected to formally review SPA on a regular basis. When this policy was introduced, a key underlying principle was that people should expect to spend up to a third of their adult life over SPA on average.

However, last July, the government announced a technical change to this principle which would mean that thousands of millennials will end up working until they are 70.

Previously, the third of adult life principle was interpreted as 33.3%, but the government announced that it would be changing that to 32% (1).

Prospect launched the petition in response to the planned changes.

Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy said: “I’m delighted the petition has been so strongly supported by Prospect representatives and members.

“It is very important that government is forced to explain why it believes that future generations should expect to spend a lower proportion of their adult lives in retirement. In doing so they have ignored their own independent reviewer who recommended that 32.87% was an appropriate proportion to use (2). We need an open and honest debate about the impact of this proposal before any changes are implemented.”

 

(1) See table 1: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/603136/periodic-review-of-rules-about-state-pension-age-gad-report.pdf

(2) ‘Smoothing the transition’: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/603136/periodic-review-of-rules-about-state-pension-age-gad-report.pdf