State pension age to be reviewed by UK Government amid fears that 45% of workers are not saving
The state pension age is to be reviewed by the UK Government amid fears half of workers are not saving anything at all for their retirement.
Westminster is required by law to review the state pension age - currently 66 - every six years but has launched a fresh inquiry earlier than planned, as the previous one concluded in 2023.
The review will examine whether the current age is still appropriate and consider factors such as rising life expectancy.
It comes as experts warn that people looking to retire in 2050 are on course to receive £800 per year less than current pensioners,.
The DWP said 45 per cent of working age adults are currently saving nothing for their pensions, amid fears the cost of living crisis has led to some households left with nothing to put aside.
Kendall said Labour is reviving the pensions commission because the 'job is not yet done'.
She added: "Put simply, unless we act, tomorrow's pensioners will be poorer than today's, because people who are saving aren't saving enough for their retirement.
'And crucially, because almost half of the working age population isn't saving anything for their retirement at all,' the Work and Pensions Secretary said during a speech to launch the move.
The commission is expected to provide recommendations for how to boost retirement income in 2027.
She also announced the next statutory government review into the pension age.
She said she was 'under no illusions' about how difficult it would be to map out plans for pensions for the coming decades amid cost-of-living pressures.
She conceded that 'many workers are more concerned about putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads than saving for a retirement that seems a long, long way away, and many businesses face huge challenges in keeping profitable and flexible in an increasingly uncertain world'.
The shortfall is also worse among women and some ethnic groups, with only one-in-four people of Pakistani or Bangladeshi background saving in a private pension.
People drawing their pension 25 years from now are set to be £800 or 8% worse off per year than their counterparts today, the department said, with four in 10 people currently not saving enough for their retirement.
Rather than launching a new commission from scratch, the government said it was reviving the "landmark" Turner Pension Commission which reported in 2006, under the last Labour government, and led to the roll-out of automatic enrolment into pension saving. As a result 88% of eligible employees are now saving, up from 55% in 2012, the DWP said.
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