I am pleased to see your readers joining in to support the 68 is too late campaign and opposing pension age rises in your recent publication of The Spalding & South Holland Voice.
The state pension age is already too high, it’s due to rise to 67 by 2028 and 68 by 2046.
Also I welcome Unite the union and the National Pensioner’s Convention joining forces to launch a petition against raising the state pension and campaigners are building support for a nationwide campaign.
A Department of Work and Pension’s review of the state pension age is due to be published by May 7. The government recently indicated it may bring forward the date of the state pension age to 68, potentially as soon as 2037.
These plans are due to be postponed, but with life expectancy falling and corporate profits booming the government must rule out pension age rises altogether.
Life expectancy is no longer rising steadily and healthy life expectancy is well below the state pension age. The average healthy life expectancy for men in England is 63.1 years, for women it is 63.8 years.
Jan Shortt, National Pensioner’s Convention general secretary, said: “It’s shameful that this government would even consider raising the state pension age for millions more people at this time. Many older people still in work struggle with health conditions that impact their ability to remain productive.
“The government likes to talk about intergenerational fairness, yet they fail to see that the pensioners of the future are our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. They deserve a better retirement than the one current pensioners are experiencing. Would it be right, then, to expect them to work longer, reducing their quality of life in retirement?”
We deserve better as our working people of today will be our pensioners of tomorrow.
The petition can be signed at https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/don-t-raise-the-state-pension-age-68-is-too-late
Rodney Sadd
Crowland
