29 July 2005
Trades Union Congress general secretary Brendan Barber has warned that raising the retirement age across the UK would hit the poorest hardest.
Barber issued the warning following publication on July 25 of a report by the Institute for Public Policy and Research that calls on the government to increase the retirement age from 65 to 67 by 2030. The centre-Left think-tank believes that would offset a crisis fuelled by an increasing ratio of pensioners to people of working age.
However, the IPPR study acknowledges that 'people do not… accept that they may need to work longer before collecting their state pension'.
Research by the Office for National Statistics in 2004 found that male manual workers in the north of England and Scotland have a life expectancy of 67.
Barber said: 'The gap in life expectancy between rich and poor has been growing in recent years. This report would have been more useful if it had looked at ways of extending real choice, such as countering employer prejudice against employing older people.'
Meanwhile, Public Finance sources have confirmed that government-trade union talks over reforms to public sector employees' pension schemes have restarted under the stewardship of Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson.
Plans to reform some schemes in advance of the general election in May were put on hold after strike threats by staff. Both sides now have a set of 'pension principles' and must agree on new laws covering future schemes.
PFjul2005
