State Pension update as DWP faces calls to lower age to 60

A major update has been issued in the battle to get the State Pension age lowered to 60 after a petition reached over 15,000 signatures. Denver Johnson, who created the petiton, called for payments to equal 48 hours each week at the National Living Wage rate of £12.21 an hour.

This would provide over 12 million people currently on the State Pension - and those over 60 - with £2,344 every four-week payment period, or £30,476 each year. It would also apply to the roughly 453,000 pensioners whose payments have been frozen after they emigrated to a country without a reciprocal agreement with the UK. Mr Johnson's petition received over 16,400 online signatures, prompting a written response from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

It said: "The Government is committed to supporting current and future generations of pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement.

"Our commitment to the Triple Lock through this Parliament will benefit over 12 million pensioners.

"From the end of this Parliament, spending on the State Pension as a result of our commitment to protect the Triple Lock is forecast to be around £31billion more a year, compared with 2024/25.

"The Government also takes seriously the need to ensure future retirees have a decent standard of living.

"That is why the Government have recently launched the Pensions Commission to ensure our pensions system delivers this in the decades ahead."

Under the current Triple Lock scheme, the State Pension increases by either the rate of inflation, average wage growth, or 2.5% - whichever is highest.

This past April, the state pension went up 4.1% using the earnings measure, while other benefits such as Universal Credit and Pension Credit increased just 1.7%.

The Triple Lock delivered a record 10.1% rise in payment in April 2023, due to high levels of inflation.