Pensions Bill 2011: retiring at 60? Dream on

The Pensions Bill is currently going through Parliament. The first key reform is an increase in the State Pension Age, raising the age at which women begin to receive their state pension from 60 to 65, to match men. The Bill is bringing forward equalisation so that women's state pension age reaches 65 by November 2018, with a further increase to 66 for both men and women by April 2020. Women currently aged 55 to 57 face a double impact from this acceleration.

People are generally living longer, and some form of adjustment to state pension eligibility is arguably justified. However, this legislation brings forward changes six years earlier than previously planned, dramatically reducing the time available to plan for them. The Bill received its second reading in Parliament on 20 June, passing with a 70-vote majority — Conservatives and Liberal Democrats voting in favour, Labour and independents against.

There are areas of the UK — largely Labour strongholds with lower-income populations — where the impact will be felt most acutely, in contrast to more prosperous, typically Conservative-leaning constituencies. The Bill does not sufficiently address this inequality. Devon, which falls below average on the national income ladder, also weighs in well above the national average in terms of the hardest-hit group — women aged 55 to 57. Population estimates show approximately 1,100 such women in Exeter, 1,300 each in Newton Abbot and East Devon, and 1,400 each in Central Devon and Tiverton and Honiton.

Working two additional years will mean missing out on around £10,000 in state pension — roughly equivalent to a full-time minimum wage income. Beyond the financial impact, the sense of injustice is acute: these women have worked hard throughout their lives with a clear and long-standing expectation of their retirement date.

The next stage in Parliament is the Committee Stage, where amendments can still be made under sufficient lobbying pressure. Age UK is a major advocate for the hardest-hit demographic. The reality is that around 330,000 women face their state pension age increasing by 18 months, with 33,000 born between 6 March and 5 April 1953 facing an increase of two full years. More than 170 MPs have signed a parliamentary motion urging a government rethink, with both Age UK and Saga calling for the rise to be deferred until after 2020.