Media reports this week have suggested the increase in state pension age from 67 to 68 could be brought forward to begin in 2037 – seven years earlier than currently scheduled.

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These reports have been denied by the Pensions Minister Torsten Bell. But we still wait with bated breath for what the Morrissey review reports back on this issue imminently.

Many of you readers may wonder what the fuss is about, what harm could working one more year do? But having looked at this issue in depth at the Centre for Ageing Better, we know the answer is a significant amount of harm.

The increase of the state pension age to 66, which occurred between 2018 and 2020, caused poverty rates to double among 65-year-olds impacting an additional 100,000 people in this age group. The current ongoing rise in state pension age to 67 is expected to negatively impact even more older people, according to a report from the Work and Pensions Committee published just a few days ago.

The fact is that most people’s ideas about their working lives are probably outdated. The traditional cliff-edge retirement of working 9-5, five days a week, before retiring at state pension age for a life without work is a........

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